
Book 



I 



A 



DEFENCE 

OF 

MODERN CALVINISM: 



CONTAINING AN 



EXAMINATION 



THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S WORK, 



ENTITLED A 



REFUTATION OF CALVINISM. 



BY EDWARD WILLIAMS, D. D 



f v 

lonUon 



PRINTED FOR AND SOLD BY JAMES BLACK, 

YORK-STREET, COV ENT- GARDEN, 

80LD ALSO BY BLACK, PARRY, AND KINGSBURY, LEADENHALL-STREET 
GALE AND CURTIS, PATERNOSTER-ROW ; AND 
CONDER, BUCKLERSBURY, 



1812. 

(A 



Mughes* Printer, Maiden-Lane, Covent-Gardert* 



PREFACE. 



e Author's first intention was merely 
to incorporate a few Strictures on Bishop 
Tomline's " Refutation" in a new edition 
of another work, on Divine Equity and 
Sovereignty, — which he still means to 
publish. This design was accordingly 
announced ; but finding many of his 
friends desirous of having the Strictures 
in a detached form, and containing a pro- 
fessed Reply to his Lordship's attack on 
modern Calvinists, he has taken their 
advice ; and now offers his " Examination" 
to the candid perusal of the dignitaiy 
whose work is the subject of it, and to the 
tribunal of the public. 



y KEFACE- 



The term " Modern Calvinism/' which 
expresses the Calvinism here " defended/' 
is adopted for three reasons. First, because 
this is what his Lordship evidently wishes 
to oppose, and by the rapid spread of which 
he appears to be displeased. He is aware 
that Calvinism is industriously and success- 
fully propagated, — and by some obnoxious 
passages out of Calvin's Works he en- 
deavours to convince the public mind, that 
such tenets ought to be exploded. It is 
therefore proper that the public should be 
also aware, that the Calvinism of the body 
of people, attacked indiscriminately by 
his Lordship, does not include the whole 
of what he ascribes to them. A second 
reason is, because the great majority of 
those who pass under the general denomi- 
nation, in modern times, regard some of 
Calvin's positions as mere exceptionable 
inferences, which he has drawn from parts 
of his own system with too much haste, or 



PREFACE. 



V 



too little caution. They consider these 
inferences (especially some deduced from 
the doctrine of divine decrees,) as injurious 
excrescences, which deform the general 
beauty of his theological scheme, and 
which do not contribute to its real strength. 
In brief, they consider his fundamental 
premises, viewed in their proper light, as 
neither requiring nor admitting some of 
his conclusions, which have given just 
offence to a large portion of Christians 
who still retain his name, — and who are 
induced to retain it (as a term of dis- 
tinction) because they apprehend that no 
other of the reformers, of whatever country, 
nor even any of the Christian Fathers, 
have so beautifully exhibited, or so ably 
defended the scripture doctrine of Sove- 
reign Grace. A third reason is, because 
the modern Calvinists in general, in this 
country, do not adopt the ecclesiastical 
discipline which was originally included in 



vi 



PREFACE. 



the term Calvinism. These considerations 
justify, to the Author's own mind, the 
ground he has taken, as well as the title 
of his Book* 



CONTENTS. 

CHAP. I. 

Avowed Sentiments of the Bishop on Original Sin, Free- 
Will, and the Operations of the Holy Spirit, examined. 

SECTION PACE 

I. On Original Sin ... ....... 1 

1L On Free -Will 20 

III. On Divine Operations . - ; V - - j. — SO 

CHAP. II. 

Avowed Sentiments of the Bishop on Regeneration 3 Justi- 
fication, Faith, and Good Works, examined. 

I. On Regeneration . CI 

II. On Justification _ _ . . 99 

III. On Faith. 139 

IF. On Good Works 156 

CHAP. III. 

Avowed Sentiments of the Bishop on Redemption and 
Predestination, examined. 

I. On Redemption 171 

II. On Predestination 199 

III. On the same, continued „ 230 

CHAP. IV. 

Some Things ascribed to Calvinists which are not applicable 
to them. 

I. Some things which belong to no existing 

Sect of Christians 281 

II. Some in a sense which they disown. . 290 

HI. Some which are peculiar to other Sects, « » 313 



van 



COX TEN TS. 



CHAP. V. 

Quotations from the Fathers, ex amined. 

SECTrO-V PAGE*. 

I. Some which have no bearing on the points 

in question — 329 

II. Some which militate against the Bishop's 

avowed principles 346 

III. Some doubtful in expression,, but not in 

meaning 374 

IV. Some unscriptural both in language and 

sentiment 422 

CHAP. VI. 

An Inquiry into the Grounds of the Inconsistencies apparent 
in the Bishop's avowed Sentiments, and in his Quotations 
from the Fathers, 

I. The misapplication of terms 467 

II. Assumed principles of Moral Obligation - . 480 

III. Erroneous views respecting the Divine Pre- 

rogative 492 

IV. Wrong notions respecting the ultimate 

sources of Virtue and Vice 504 

V. The want of requisite acquaintance with 

reconciling principles 514 

CHAP. VII. 

Concluding Remarks on the Excellency of Religious 
Knowledge, and on the best way of obtaining it. . 527 

* # * The References are made to the second edition 
of the " Refutation/' the Author having never seen 



the first. 



MODERN CALVINISM, 



Chap. I. 

AVOWED SENTIMENTS OF THE BISHOP ON ORIGINAL 
SIN, FREE WILL, AND THE OPERATIONS OF THE 
HOLY SPIRIT, EXAMINED. 

Sect. L 

The Bishop's mowed Sentiments on Original Sin^ 
examined, 

h 1. What is a fair mode of enquiry on controverted subjects. § 2. The 
subject stated* 

£ 3, The sentiment that original righteousness is not entirely lost, 
examined. $ 4. Original righteousness, what. § 5. How under- 
stood by the Compilers of the Articles. § 6. How entirely lost. 
§ 7. Even supposing it to mean good qualities and principles inde- 
finitely. § 8, 9. What the intended alteration by the Assembly of 
Divines. § 10. The practical advantages of insisting on this doctrine. 

^11. That every good affection is not entirely lost, examined. § 12. The 
true state of the question. § 13. W T hat the Calvinists really 
hold on this point. § 14. His Lordship's observations on the 
parable of the sower, considered. 

§ 15. That the power of obeying still remains, examined. The subject 
stated. ^ 16. The ambiguity of the term power. § 17. The 
capability of a carnal mind, what. § 18. Observations on Cain 
and Abel. § 19. Import of the phrase " inciineth to evil;" 
examined. § 20. In what sense Calvinists admit that God gives 
power to every man. 

§ 1. One of the fairest methods of ex= 
amining his work that an author can desire, is 
to state in his own words the sentiments he 
avows, and then to try them by that standard 



2 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 



which the nature of the subject legitimately 
requires. This is what the writer of the follow- 
ing strictures very sincerely desires to do, in 
the most respectful manner; and if, in any 
instance he should fail in the attempt, he 
hopes it will not be imputed to an ungenerous 
design, or a cherished principle of disrespect. 
The hope of this construction he is the more 
disposed to entertain, as it is not his purpose 
to defend every expression or unqualified sen- 
timent maintained by that author whom his 
Lordship of Lincoln undertakes chiefly to 
refute, — and as he is not conscious of aiming 
to serve any party, at all hazards, but rather 
to promote the cause of truth in the. spirit of 
Christian benevolence. 

§ 2. On the different subjects debated, many 
things are advanced by his Lordship which are 
maintained alike by himself, and by those 
whom he professedly opposes. It would be* 
impertinent to enlarge on those things ; and to 
dwell minutely on the smaller shades of diffe- 
rence, would lead to a needless prolixity. For 
every important purpose, I conceive, it will be 
sufficient to notice the most radical points in 
which the minor variations are virtually in- 
eluded. Those points on the subject of original 
sin, may be reduced to three heads, viz. That 
original righteousness is not entirely lost — that 



sect. i. On Original Sin, 3 

every good affection was not eradicated — and 
that the power of obeying still remains. These 
positions constitute a prominent part of his 
Lordship's avowed sentiments, — as will imme- 
diately appear from his own statements. 

§ 5. His Lordship's avowal of the first of 
these positions is full and explicit, in the fol- 
lowing words: — e In appealing to the public 
' formularies of our church, I shall first notice 
6 the article upon Original Sin, in which it is 
' said, that " man is very far gone from original 

* righteousness :" this expression implies, that 
6 original righteousness is not entirely lost ; that 
6 all the good qualities and principles, with which 
' man was at first created, are not absolutely 
' destroyed. That this is the plain and obvious 
i sense of the passage, is evident from the fol- 
6 lowing circumstance : when the Assembly of 
' Divines, in the reign of Charles the First, 

< undertook to reform, as they called it, our 
i Articles according to the Calvinistic creed. 
e they proposed to omit the words, " man is 
6 very far gone from original righteousness," 

< and to substitute for them, " man is wholly 
' deprived of original righteousness." It was 
' admitted by both parties, that the two sen- 
c tences conveyed ideas extremely different ; and 

* the proposed alteration was rejected by those 

* who wished to maintain the ancient and esta- 



4 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



CH. I- 



6 blished doctrine of the church of England, in 
' opposition to the peculiar tenets of Calvin/* 

§ 4. c Original righteousness is not entirely 
lost. 1 Let us calmly examine this position. 
While terms are left undefined, upon subjects 
wherein precision of language is more than 
ordinarily required, controversy is likely to 
become progressive and perplexing. If by 
" original righteousness" one person understands 
6 good qualities and principles' indefinitely, 
while another understands the perfection of 
them, what prospect is there of agreement, 
however extended the ratiocination? If his 
Lordship intend the latter part of the sentence 
quoted, to be explanatory of the former, he 
adopts the first of these meanings. But, ab- 
stracted from a peculiar connection, the common 
and obvious meaning of the term " righteous- 
ness" is rectitude, or perfect conformity to what 
is right. And the original righteousness of 
man, all must allow, consisted in nothing less 
than such perfect conformity, 

§ 5. What evidence, therefore, is there, that 
the compilers of the Articles intended by " right- 
eousness," good qualities and principles indefi- 
nitely, rather than the perfection of them? If 
they employed the term in a sense so unusual, 
* Refut. p. 50, 



sect. I. On Original Sin* 5 

in such a connection, they must have been 
remiss, in point of precision, not to state it. 
But to suppose this, where precision must have 
been a leading design, is uncharitable. It is not 
therefore by any means to be assumed, that the 
framers of the Articles meant by " righteous- 
ness," good qualities, and principles indefinitely, 
rather than the perfection of them. They speak 
of a standard from which " man is far gone;" — 
but an indefinite degree of good qualities and 
principles can be no standard. This would leave 
every thing undefined and uncertain. Whereas 
to say that man is far gone from the perfection 
of them, avoids an absurd, and establishes an 
important meaning.. 

§ 6. This perfection of good qualities and 
principles was entirely lost. For nothing less 
can be intended by being " far gone" from it, 
If men have gone astray from the fold of God, 
surely they have lost entirely the privilege of 
being in that fold. Their " original righteous- 
ness" included a complete standing in the divine 
approbation ; and if that complete standing be 
now entirely lost, so likewise must that original 
righteousness by which it was secured. This, 
however, is not inconsistent with degrees of 
deviation from righteousness. For though " all 
we like sheep have gone astray," some by per 
sonal disobedience have gone farther than others, 



6 



Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. i. 



And the article assures us, that " man (and 
there appears no ground of exception) is very 
far gone from original righteousness." Every 
man, therefore, has entirely lost the perfection 
of his nature, — which the term " original right- 
eousness" very naturally, and most properly 
expresses. 

§ 7. But even supposing, for argument' sake, 
that the term " righteousness," is intended to 
express ' good qualities and principles' indefi- 
nitely, still there is an important sense in which 
every man has lost it entirely. The same human 
qualities and principles which are good in one 
respect, may be bad in another, even in the most 
important acceptation. There may be in one 
man, compared with another, a stronger attach- 
ment to temperance, chastity, veracity, or ho- 
nesty: but it would be fallacious to infer, on 
this account, that he is the subject of these 
virtues in a primary sense. He has less actual 
vice than many others, while, at the same 
time, his qualities and principles, operating 
another way, may be radically vicious. His 
virtues are merely negative ; — he is less disposed 
to intemperance, unchastity, falsehood, or dis- 
honesty. Such partial and comparative virtues 
may be found in an Atheist ; but will any one 
say, that in such a character " original righte- 
ousness" is not entirely lost? Persons possessed 



SECT. I. On Original Sin. 7 

of such comparative good qualities and prin- 
ciples may be utterly destitute of a cordial 
submission to the will of God, — a genuine 
approbation of his hofy law, or of his blessed 
gospel: and if these good qualities be absent, 
is not the being, the very essence of original 
righteousness, absolutely destroyed, — entirely 
lost? 

§ 8. When the Assembly of Divines, in the 
reign of Charles the First, proposed to omit 
the words, " man is very far .gone from original 
righteousness," and to substitute for them, " man 
is wholly deprived of original righteousness," how 
does it appear that their doctrinal view of the 
subject was materially different from that of the 
first compilers ? It would be more accurate to 
say, with due deference to his Lordship, that 
the two sentences might convey ideas extremely 
different, than that they were intended to do so. 
The phrase " wholly deprived" might be ob- 
jected to, lest any should infer, that the cause 
of it was an arbitrary act of God, as contra- 
distinguished from a voluntary act of man. It 
is natural to suppose a predilection in favour 
of an established formulary, where no impor- 
tant advantage could be proposed by adopting 
the alteration. The one mode of expression 
more strongly represents man as the author of 
his loss, while the other simply states the extent 



8 Modern Calvinism Depended, ch. i, 

of that loss, in a mode which might be perverted 
to a bad use. Considering man as a moral 
agent, he is " very far gone" from his original 
state, and as a sufferer he is " wholly deprived" 
of it. To have gone far, very far, from a given 
state of mind, must signify, if plain language 
have any definite meaning, that the state in- 
tended was " entirely lost;" and that, re- 
garded as a privilege, man was wholly deprived 
of it. 

§ 9. Upon the whole, therefore, it does not 
appear that the rejection of the Assembly's pro- 
posal implied any disagreement of sentiment, but 
rather turned upon the most unexceptionable 
mode of expressing it. The article, however, is 
sufficiently explicit in shewing that man has lost 
his pristine perfection, no less than if it were 
said, that he is " wholly deprived" of it. No 
man w r ho is unchanged by gracious influence, 
has even the nature of true wisdom, much less 
its perfection. He is essentially defective as to 
the end he aims at, and consequently the means 
he adopts cannot have the nature of righteous- 
ness, whatever sagacity, or comparative wisdom, 
he may discover in the use of them, 

§ 10. To insist much on this doctrine has 
the most salutary effect on the minds and con- 
duct of men, as being very frequently attended 



sect. I. On Original Sin. 9 

with a divine blessing and gracious influence; 
while a neglect of stating it in a close and 
searching manner, in a course of Christian in- 
struction, is in fact found to be highly injurious 
to vital religion. Until men are thoroughly 
convinced of their deplorable defects, and their 
mental maladies, there is no probability that 
they will mourn for their sins, become poor in 
spirit, or hunger and thirst after righteousness. 
That unguarded and crude representations have 
been made of the doctrine is but too true ; yet 
even this has not been so fatal to the interests 
of real Christianity as the contrary extreme. 
Because in the one case, however disgusting or 
frightful the representation may be, an appro- 
priate remedy is held forth ; whereas a picture 
encouraging self-flattery, tends to eclipse the 
grace of Christ, or to diminish, in the sinners 
view, the gospel ren^edy. Among converts of 
the latter class, I should expect but little 
gratitude to God, or love to Christ, or zeal in 
propagating his gospel. How far this remark 
accords with matter of fact, is left with the 
candid enquirer to determine from observation. 

§11. His Lordship farther asserts that every 
good affection was not eradicated. ' All idea 
c of distinction between right and wrong was 
i not obliterated from the human mind, or 
* every good affection eradicated from the human 



10 



Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. i. 



' heart.'* — ' The heart was in a liioli decree 
' depraved, but every good affection towards God 
' and towards man was not totally extinguished.^ 
— ' Let us next consider the parable of the 
' sower, and particularly the explanation of that 
c seed which fell on good ground, and sprang 
c up, and bare fruit ; " that on the good ground," 
6 says Christ, " are they which in an honest and 
c good heart, having heard the word, keep it, 
6 and bring forth fruit with patience here we 
' have again our Saviour's authority for saying, 
' that there is some honesty, some goodness of heart 
* in the human race * and that different men 
e possess these virtuous qualities in different 
' degrees, since of the seed which fell upon good 
4 ground, some brought forth " an hundred fold, 
f some sixty, some thirty."*^ 

§ 12. £ Every good affection was not eradi- 
4 cated — was not totally extinguished — there is 
6 some goodness of heart in the human race/ 
These positions appear to be advanced against 
the supposed tenets of Calvinists. But in one 
sense of the terms employed, they are not at all 
opposed to Calvinism ; for what Calvinist would 
maintain that affections, — conjugal, parental, 
fmal, paternal, friendly, patriotic, or loyal, — are 
not good ? The question is, in what sense are 



* Refut. p. 3. + Ibid 5 p. 10. + Ibid, p. 14, 



sect. i. On Original Sin. 11 

such affections good, . previous to a supernatural 
influence ? They are, doubtless, comparatively 
good ; that is, compared with their opposites. 
Yet this they may be, while essentially defective 
compared with the will of God, and the revealed 
rule of righteousness; since they are exercised 
by many persons who are " fast bound with the 
chains of their sins," and in a very degraded 
state of moral depravity. A person may have 
a sincere and strong affection to another, which 
is good compared with " envy, hatred, and 
malice," without possessing what is essential 
to real virtue and moral goodness. 

§ 13. What his Lordship asserts, that c all 
6 idea of distinction between right and wrong 
* was not obliterated from the hunian mind,' 
might lead the reader to suppose that Calvinists 
held the contrary opinion. So far however is 
this from being the case, that they feel no 
reluctance in extending the assertion to fallen 
angels, as well as to men ; and are in the habit 
of reciting these words of their poet with appro- 
bation: " The devils know, and tremble too; but 
Satan cannot love." — But his Lordship proceeds 
to say, that ' every good affection towards God— 
£ was not totally extinguished.' That a carnal 
mind, under the dominion of sin, and led captive 
by Satan at his will, may have some sense of gra- 
titude to the bountiful Creator and Benefactor, 



13 



Modern Calvinism Defended, en. i. 



and some kind of love to him, i§ readily 
granted ; but the question is, whether that love 
has not in it " the nature of sin," white the 
object of it is made subservient to selfish ends, — 
such ends as are opposed to the standard of 
righteousness? This is what Calvinists maintain, 
according to the sacred oracles, which declare 
that " the carnal mind is enmity against God : 
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither 
indeed can be. They that are in the flesh 
cannot please God."* — " The natural man re- 
ceive th not the things of the Spirit of God : 
for they are foolishness unto him : neither can 
he know them, because they are spiritually 
discerned. 

.§ 14. The observations made on the parable 
of the sower, will be thought by most readers, 
I presume, very remarkable. c There is some 
e honesty, some goodness of heart in the human 
6 race.' Supposing the four kinds of hearers to 
represent ' the human race/ three parts out of 
four appear fruitless, — without honesty or good- 
ness of heart. How then can this be an apology 
in point for the honesty and goodness of ' the 
i human racer' And respecting the fourth part, 
that bare good fruit in different degrees, what 
reason is there for concluding that the success 



* Rom. viii, 7, 8. 



+ 1 Cor. ii; 14, 



sect* i> On Original Sin, IS 

was owing to some native goodness or honesty, 
rather than to divine grace? Has the Spirit 
of God no efficiency in preparing the heart, and 
ensuring success ? The apostle of the Gentiles 
explicitly ascribes it to God, " I have planted, 
Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 
So then, neither is he that planteth any thing, 
neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth 
the increase."* The Calvinists, therefore, think 
it more scriptural, and more rational, to ascribe 
the different deorees of fruitfulncss attending 
the preached gospel to divine gracious agency, 
than to * virtuous qualities' possessed by the 
human race in different degrees, independently 
of that agency. Beside, as the truth of the 
gospel is supposed to be proclaimed in the hear- 
ing of all alike, if the cause of fruitfulness be 
ascribed to native virtuous qualities, and all the 
human race have some of these qualities; how 
comes it to pass that so large a proportion of 
mankind are represented by our Saviour as 
bringing forth ?io fruit ? 

§ 15. In the next place, his Lordship con- 
tends, that the power of obeying still remains. 
For thus he states and argues : * We are told in 
* the book of Genesis, that " the Lord had re- 
L spect unto Abel and to his offering;" and unto 



*- 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7. 



14 



.Modern Calvinism Defended 



ch. is 



1 Cain he said/ " If thou docst well, shalt thou 
c not be accepted? And if thou docst not well, 
1 sin lieth at the door."" May we not hence 
' infer that the immediate sons of Adam lived 
' under a divine law, which they had the pozver 
6 of obeying or of disobeying? * — ' They were 
e capable of obeying it [a rule of life] although in 
1 fact their obedience has been very rare, and 
c always imperfect.' f — The article [on original 
c sin] does not pronounce with the Calvinists, 
' that man of his own nature can perform nothing 
( but evil, but that he " inclineth to evil ;" a 
6 doctrine fundamentally different, since an incli- 
( nation, though strong, may be conquered.' J — « 
e Those • who saw and heard what Jesus did, 
1 were of themselves capable of understanding that 
< he " was the Christ, the Son of God "||— < God 
1 gives to every man, through the means of his 
c grace, a pacer to perform the conditions of the 
' gospel.' §' — These are his Lordship's avowed 
sentiments on the subject of human power. 

§ 16\ To every observant reader of moral 
and theological discussions, it must be very 
apparent, that ambiguity often attends the use 
of the word Power. In writers who do not 
define their terms, we find it, even in con- 



* Refut. p. 4. 
(| Ihid, p. 19. 



f Ibid, p. 9. % Ibid, p. 51. 
k Ibid, p. 64. 



sect. r. On Original Sin. 15 

troversy, standing indiscriminately for physical 
strength, for opportunity of acting, for a suffici- 
ent inducement to act, and for moral ability. 
Now except a writer explain what kind of 
power he designs, there can be no close reason- 
ing on the subject. I know of no Calvinist who 
denies that fallen man has power, in the sense 
of physical strength, to will or to act according 
to his pleasure, — or of opportunity of acting well 
if so disposed, — or of a sufficient inducement 
to act aright The point, therefore, is simply 
this, Whether man in his native dege nerac} r , 
irrespective of gracious renewing influence from 
the Holy Spirit, has that kind of power which 
consists in a good disposition or inclination ? and 
whether it renders a man £ capable, of himself/ to 
understand the spiritual design of the gospel, to 
love God supremely, to love the Lord Jesus Christ 
as a holy Saviour, and to approve unreservedly 
of God's " holv will and commandments ?" 

§ 17. That many carnal men are capable, in 
different degrees, of investigating the evidences 
of Christianity, and have power to point out 
with considerable force the criteria of revealed 
religion, is not to be denied. They may 
also perceive a degree of harmony in the divine 
dispensations, the reasonableness of many com- 
mands and obligations, and many wonderful 
traits of divine goodness and mercy, as well as 



IS 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i* 



the equity of many awful judgments. But is 
this any sufficient proof that their heart is right, 
witft- God, or that they have the root of sincere 
piety ? They may be still under condemnation 
as practical unbelievers, and destitute of that 
holiness without which no man shall see the 
Lord : though perceiving, and in some respects 
approving of better things, they may be the 
slaves of sin, totally averse from the yoke of 
Christ, and prevailingly actuated by " the lust 
of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride 
of life :" they may habitually be making " the 
pleasures of sin" their chief good; and, being 
thus in the flesh, they cannot please God, 
though possessed of physical powers, opportu- 
nities, and sufficient inducements. 

§18. The scriptural account we have of 
Cain and Abel, affords no good evidence that 
either of them possessed a native moral ability 
to please God. Saint Paul explains the passage, 
and assures us, that " by faith Abel offered a 
more excellent sacrifice than Cain." But that 
faith w r as not " of himself, it was the • gift of 
God," — Tor w r hy should we suppose that it 
flowed from a source different from that of 
Christian faith? And again, what Calvinist 
would say, that Cain would not have been 
accepted, if he came to God with right ends 
and motives? They both had physical power, 



sect. i. On Original Sin. 17 

a favourable opportunity, and a sufficient in^ 
ducement for offering an acceptable service. 
The fault of Cain, therefore, was all his own ; 
but it does not thence follow that the faith of 
Abel had no higher source than his own native 
power, or that God by his grace did no more for 
Abel than for Cain. Should any one be disposed 
to think that God was bound in justice to do as 
much for the one as for the other, let him 
calmly reflect, first, that it is degrading to the 
divine freedom, to suppose that he is obliged to 
do all the good that he can ; secondly, that it is 
a reflection on the character of God, since it is 
evident in fact that he does riiore for some of 
his rational creatures in the matter of salvation 
than for others; and, thirdly, that to suppose 
God is bound injustice to exercise mercy , is a 
contradiction in terms : for what is mercy, 
what can it be, but a favour beyond the claims 
of justice? 

§ 19- When the article declares that man of 
his own nature " inclineth to evil," it expresses 
that very impotence which Calvinists ascribe to 
man in his fallen state. And that this is their 
meaning, is plain from their constant avowal, that 
a spiritual change confers upon the soul no new 
physical power, but only a different inclination 
towards God and holiness. The influence it 
receives may be called " the spirit of power,'" 

c 



18 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. i. 

whereby the mind is invigorated for holy obe- 
dience. That an inclination to evil may be 
conquered, is plain from the fact that in many 
happy instances it is conquered. But is it ever 
conquered without divine assistance? If the 
aid of grace be necessary, why should it be 
ascribed to mans native goodness of heart? If 
not necessary, why should w r e be exhorted to 
pray for it with importunity? And if Saint 
Paul testified that he was not " of himself' 
sufficient to think a good thought, with what 
propriety can it be asserted that an unconverted 
man, who " of his own nature inclineth to evil," 
is " of himself capable" of understanding, 
savingly, that Jesus is " the Christ, the Son of 
God?" Our Lord tells Peter that such know- 
ledge was revealed to him by his heavenly 
Father. And Saint John affirms, that no man 
can say, that is, to saving purpose, " that 
Jesus is the Christ, but by the Holy Ghost." 
The apostle could not mean that no man, 
without the Holy Ghost, could say this in 
a cursory manner, or maintain it as a doc- 
trinal truth, because the contrary is a plain 
fact. He must therefore intend to inculcate, 
that a just knowledge and cordial approbation 
of Jesus as the Christ, is from the Holy Spirit. 

§ 20. When his Lordship asserts, that c God 
' gives to every man, through the means of 



sect. i. On Original Sin. 19 

c his grace, a power to perform the conditions of 
' the gospel,' the Calvinists have no controversy 
with him, except about the meaning of the 
term. Taking the word " power" for oppor- 
tunity, or for a sufficient inducement, they 
admit the assertion as an important truth.- But 
to suppose that every man., through the means 
of grace, has a prevailing inclination to perform 
the condition of the gospel, is contrary to 
indisputable fact: since the means of grace are 
to great numbers, through their own fault, " a 
savour of death unto death." In short, what 
we maintain is, that the power which man has 
lost, through original sin, is — an effectual or 
prevailing inclination to good. 



20 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. .t. 



Sect. II. 

The Bishop's avowed Sentiments on Free -Will, 
examined. 

§ 1. Sources of ambiguity in discussions about Free- Will. § 2. 
Wherein the freedom of the will consists. § 3. The idea of 
will, and that of its freedom, of different kinds. § 4. The 
Bishop's opinion stated. 

§ 5. The sentiment that impressions made upon the mind depend on 
reason and Free- Will, examined. § 6. The Calvinistic sentiment 
stated and defended. § 7. God is under no obligation injustice to 
change any sinner's heart. 

§ 8. That conversion is owing to the exercise of our natural poieers, 
examined. § 9. The Calvinistic notion of conversion, stated and 
defended. 

§ i. M uch of the ambiguity which attends 
discussions about Free -Will, arises from the 
want of precision in the use of this term. It 
would afford but little interest to enumerate the 
different acceptations in which it has been taken 
by controversial writers. What can be rati- 
onally meant by it, but the will in a state of 
freedom ? When, therefore, it is said that man 
has free-will, it is the same as affirming that 
his will is free. But free from what? It is 
not free from divine energy supporting it in 
existence. It is not free from a perpetual 
tendency to apparent good; for in this must 
consist its glory and perfection ; nor is it free 
from aversion to apparent evil, without which 



SECT. ir. 



On Tree-mil. 



21 



aversion it could have no excellency. It is not 
free from being influenced by the disposition, 
whether that disposition be good or evil ; other- 
wise we might as consistently trust an habitual 
thief] as an habitually honest man ; we might 
give as easy credit to a known liar, as to a man 
of general veracity. When we apprehend the 
disposition to be evil, we always expect, other 
things being equal, the will to be influenced by 
it to unworthy ends. On the contrary, when we 
apprehend the disposition to be good, we expect 
the will to be influenced by it to ends and 
decisions which are laudable. 

§ 2. The question returns, from what is the 
will free ? In other words, wherein consists its 
freedom ? Until this point be clearly ascer- 
tained by both parties, all disputing about 
" free-will" must be a mere war of words. What 
Calvinists maintain is, that the will, in its 
accountable actions, is free from constraint to 
evil, whether that evil be real or apprehended. 
Nothing but the supreme author of our being, 
can be supposed to constrain or impel the 
human will. He supports it in existence, 
indeed, and makes it act in the choice of its 
object; but that object is never chosen as evil, 
otherwise the possession of such a faculty would 
not be a blessing but a curse, and therefore 
unworthy of a beneficent Creator to confer 



22 



Modern Calvinism Depended. 



CH. I. 



upon us. Nor is it constrained or impelled to 
real evil, except when, through the influence of 
prejudice, it is viewed as an eligible good. It 
is also free from a restraint from good, both real 
and apprehended. To suppose it restrained 
from apprehended good, would be to tantalize 
it, — to support an active principle in perpetual 
disappointment and wretchedness : while to sup- 
pose it restrained from real good, would be an 
aspersion on its Maker and Preserver, who has 
made real good its only satisfying portion. The 
human will, therefore, is free from constraint 
and restraint, in these respects, in its accountable 
elections. This is what modern Calvinists 
profess ; — and it is difficult to conjecture what 
greater freedom his Lordship would claim for 
the human mind. 

§ 3. It is worthy of remark, that while the 
idea of will is positive, as of an active power, 
that of freedom is negative, as of mere exemp- 
tion — it is the bare denial of constraint and 
restraint. To suppose freedom or liberty, as 
predicated of the will, to be a power, or an 
active principle, superadded to the will, is to 
confound things which, in their proper nature, 
are totally different. It is to use words without 
distinct ideas. Whether his Lordship has kept 
his thoughts free from embarrassment on this sub- 
ject, may deserve his reconsideration, especially 



SECT. II. 



On Free -IV ill. 



23 



as much of his " Refutation" appears to turn 
on this important point. 

§ 4. There are two things avowed by his 
Lordship, under the head of Free- Will, which 
require examination. First, that an impression 
on the mind depends on reason and free- 
will — and, secondly, that conversion is owing 
to the exercise of natural powers. There is a 
sense in which it is commonly known that 
Calvinists readily admit these positions; but 
they are here advanced by his Lordship in 
opposition to Calvinism, the growth of which 
he professes to impede. In fair construction, 
therefore, the positions must be meant in some 
other sense, which they do not avow. In mat- 
ters of controversy, not to distinguish is to 
continue in a labyrinth. 

§ 5. His Lordship states, that the impres- 
sion which the truths of the gospel make 
upon the mind, depends on reason and free- 
will. His words, in their connection, are these: 
e And surely the admonition which follows this 
( parable, " Take heed therefore how ye hear," 
' implies that the impression which the truths of 
* the gospel make upon the minds of men, 
: depends upon the manner in which they attend 
' to them, that is, upon the exercise of their 



%4< Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. i. 



'own reason and free - will.' * This statement 
must imply, that the Calvinists disavow it either 
altogether, or else in a sense which his Lordship 
disapproves, — otherwise why should it be urged 
against them? It is, however, incumbent upon 
me to assure him and the public, that modern 
Calvinists do not cashier from their system * the 

* exercise of reason and free-will.' They con- 
sider reason as the faculty which compares ideas, 
and the will as free in all its elections: they 
maintain that these faculties were first given 
and are still continued to man, in order to be 
exercised; that, when exercised aright, they 
answer the important end of promoting 6 the 

5 impression which the truths of the gospel make 

* upon the minds of men and that in this 
respect the impression 'depends upon the manner 

6 in which they attend to them.' What more 
than this would his Lordship require? If any 
thing, it must be, that the exercise of our own 
reason and free-will is the exclusive cause of a 
good impression of Gospel truths upon our 
minds. I say a good impression, — for though 
the truths of the gospel are always and uni- 
formly good, the impressions made, through 
man's fault, are often bad. " For the preaching 
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness ; 
but unto us who are saved, it is the power of 



* Refut. p. 14. 



SECT. II. 



On Free -Win. 



25 



God."* — " For we are unto God a sweet savour 
of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them 
that perish; to the one we are the savour of 
death unto death, and to the other the savour of 
life unto life."t 

§ 6. That a good impression of divine truth 
on the human mind depends exclusively on the 
exercise of reason and free-will, we dare not 
concede. The parable, explained by our Lord 
himself, expressly declares that " an honest and 
good heart" constitutes an essential difference, 
where the impression is good and lasting. All 
the. different kinds of hearers had the exercise 
of reason and free-will, and all had equal ob- 
jective inducements for exercising them in the 
same manner. We regard divine truth as the 
instrumental cause, or moral mean, of good 
impressions ; but reason and free-will as physical 
powers, which are at liberty either to reject, or 
to receive and appropriate the truth proposed. 
To contend that reason and free-will are 
themselves the cause of the different manner of 
their exercise, is to argue in a circle. The 
question is, on what depends the proper exer- 
cise of reason and free-will? Surely not on the 
exercise of reason and free-will ! We say, on 
the state of the heart, as " good and honest," 

* 1 Cor. i. IS. + 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. 



Modern Calvinism Defended. cm. i. 



through the influence of the Holy Spirit. If 
the tree be thus made good, the fruit will be 
good; but if the tree be bad, it is certain the 
fruit will not be good. Thus good impressions 
require divine truth as the seal, reason and free- 
will as the hand, and honesty of heart as the 
soft wax. A dishonest and bad heart, like the 
hard wax, resists the seal. God vouchsafes to 
all men who hear the gospel, a proposal of 
divine truth, and physical powers, — judgment 
and reason, conscience and free-will; these in 
themselves are valuable gifts of heaven : but 
he is not under any obligation to soften the 
hard heart, or to alter the nature of man, which, 
of itself, ever since the first apostacy, " incline th 
to evil." This deserves further explanation, 

§ 7- It is manifest that God can take away 
the heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh, 
for he has declared that he will do it : nor is it 
consistent with worthy thoughts of God, or 
with becoming reverence, to say that he can 
not do it, in reference to any of the human 
race, however depraved. Yet, if he were under 
obligation, in justice to his creatures, or if it 
any way became him to effect this, we are sure 
it would be done ; for he cannot be unjust to 
his creatures, nor omit any thing which it 
becomes him to do. Consequently, when any 
heart is left unchanged, God does not omit what 



sect. ii. On Free-WilL %7 

becomes him, and all the blame attaches to the 
unbelieving and impenitent sinner. And in 
those instances wherein the heart is made sus- 
ceptible of good impressions, through the inter- 
vention of truth and free-will, we acknowledge 
the operation of discriminating grace. For if 
the obligation is not of justice, there is no other 
alternative. 

§ 8. His Lordship further avows, that con- 
version is owing to the exercise of our natural 
powers. His words are these : ' The inhabitants 
6 of Samaria, by giving heed to the preaching 
c of Philip, and by seeing the miracles he per- 
c formed, believed the things wiiich he spake 
c concerning the kingdom of God, and the name 
6 of Jesus Christ, and were baptized both men 
' and women. The conversion therefore of these 
e persons also was owing to the exercise of 
6 their own natural powers.'* Far be it from 
Calvinists to discard the use of divinely insti- 
tuted means, especially attention to preaching, 
and a believing regard to the testimony of God 
in his word. They are in the habit of inculcating 
these duties ; and many, both men and women, 
are converted in the use of them to the faith of 
Jesus, and to the love of God. But we dare 
not say, that such conversions, or that of the 



* Refut. p. 23. 



28 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. ?, 



Samaritans, slioulcl be ascribed exclusively to the 
exercise of natural powers. If his Lordship 
includes the grace of God as an essential cause 
of that conversion, disposing men to exercise 
these powers aright, we have the pleasure of 
agreeing with him. 

§ p.. Conversion, in our view of it, denotes 
an actual turning from vice to real virtue ; from 
every false refuge to Christ, who is the end of 
the law for righteousness to every one that 
believeth in him with the heart ; from an inor- 
dinate love of self and of the world to the love 
of God ; and from the practice of sin, whether 
open or secret, to the exercise of divinely 
prescribed duties and all holy obedience. In 
this representation, I presume, his Lordship 
acquiesces. Now, the question is, whence ori- 
ginates so great a change both inward and 
outward? — to what is it owing? Can it satisfy 
any serious and reflecting enquirer, to be told, 
that the change in converted persons 4 w r as 
c owing to the exercise of their own natural 
* powers?' Do not the disobedient exercise 
their own natural powers ? Yes ; but the sincere 
converts, it may be said, exercise them in a 
different manner. Granted; but the enquirer 
has a right to ask, why they do so ? For this is 
the very point in question ; and he is entitled 
to expect a better answer, than, They do it, 



FECT. II. 



On Free -Will 



29 



because they do it. Our answer Is, — and let 
the reader judge whether it be not conformable 
to scripture and tiie principles of sound reason, — 
the happy change is owing to the special grace 
of God in the hearts- of true converts, disposing 
them to exercise their natural powers in a 
proper manner. I said, special grace; because 
that which is displayed in the gospel objectively, 
which bringeth the tidings of salvation through 
Christ, has appeared to all men, — is alike com- 
mon to the converted and unconverted, to 
numbers who perish, as Well as to them who 
are eventually saved. Consequently that grace 
which causes the difference of result, must be 
subjective, or internal, and special 



30 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. m 



Sect. III. 

The Bishop's avowed Sentiments on Divine 
Operations, examined. 

$ 1. The subject stated. 

§2. The Bishop's declaration respecting the manner of eo-operation ? 
examined. §3. Divine operation does not infringe on human 
freedom. § 4. Is not merely in the way of suasion. § 5. Is 
internal. § 6. Not immediately on the will, but the heart. § 7 c' 
With a design to beget a virtuous principle. § 8. Which is illu- 
minating, and § 9. Antecedent to man's co-operation. 

$ 10. That the communication of the Spirit is subsequent to belief, 
examined. §11. Different kinds of influence — common, and 
§ 12. Extraordinary; this preceded by faith. § 13. Faith dis- 
tinguished as to its principle, and exercise. § 14. Extraordinary 
influence not communicated to any who refused to believe. 

§ 15. That divine influence is communicated by Baptism, examined. 
§ 16. This not the office of Baptism. § 17. But to represent. 
§ 18 — 24. Divine influence and Baptism not inseparably 
associated. 

$ 25. If grace were irresistible, men could not fall into sin, 
examined. § 26. In what sense grace is irresistible. § 27. In 
what sense good men can fall into sin, and also cannot. 

$ 28. That irresistible grace cannot be employed as an argu?)ient 
for private care and diligence, examined. § 29. Its fallacy 
shewn from analogy. 

§ i. As his Lordship does not hesitate to 
acknowledge, in general, the doctrine of divine 
influence on the human mind, it is not necessary 
here to enter into a professed vindication of it : 
and it is no small pleasure to me, that he 
so openly avows, and so ably defends, in his 
Christian Theology, many important points of 



-sect. in. On Divine Operations. 31 

revealed doctrine, which he holds in common 
with the Cal vini sts ; especially the doctrine 
of the sacred Trinity in Unity, as well as 
that of atonement for sin by the substitution 
of Jesus Christ. Some things, however, he 
advances, respecting divine operations, which 
appear to me highly exceptionable. While he 
frankly acknowledges, that the manner of divine 
co-operation is unknown to him, which is a 
sufficient apology why he does not attempt to 
explain it, he yet contends that the com- 
munication of the Holy Ghost is subsequent to 
belief, indiscriminately — that Baptism imparts 
the Holy Gho^t — that if divine influence Were 
irresistible, men could not fall into sin — and that 
the doctrine of irresistible grace cannot be em- 
ployed as an argument for private care and 
diligence. On these points let us attend to his 
own declarations. 

§ % Though it might be thought pre- 
sumptuous in me, to pretend to instruct his 
Lordship on a point which, he explicitly avows, 
is unknown to him ; yet a few observations, for 
the sake of the general reader, may be hazarded, 
perhaps, without offence. The declaration I 
refer to is this : ' in what manner, or in what 
6 proportion, if I may so say, God and man 



* Refut. p. 36, 



32 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch, I, 



' co-operate, I am utterly unable to explain or 
' discover.'*' — I do not indeed hesitate to a"dd, 
with Bishop Eull, " Modum quidem concursus 
gratise divina3 cum hum ana volantate exacte 
defmire, ac dicere quid sola praestet gratia, quid 
cum et sub gratia liberum agat arbitrium, non 
exigucE difficult at is res est/'f But there is an 
important difference between a subject being 
attended with considerable difficulty, in our 
attempts at accurately defining* and describing 
it, and its being utterly unknown. Whatever 
difficulties belong to the manner and proportion 
of the co-operation of God and man, there are 
some considerations which tend considerably to 
lessen them. 

§ 3. We may be certain that the freedom of 
the human will is not infringed by the divine 
operation : since to infringe the freedom of a 
moral agent, is to diminish his accountability, 
in the same proportion, his freedom' being the 
very foundation on which his accountability 
depends. The reality of divine operation on 
some human minds, and the certainty of a 
future account of our actions, whether good or 
evil, are fundamental and acknowledged truths. 
Consequently the operation does not infringe 
our freedom. 



* Bull Harm. Apost. Dissert. Post. 



sect. in. On Divine Operations. 33 

§ 4. We may further be certain that the 
operation is not merely external, in the way of 
suasion, but internal. We have a distinct idea 
of moral means, external testimonies and pro- 
clamations, proofs and persuasive considerations, 
addresses to the fancy and the passions ; and 
it is easy to conceive how such things operate 
on the mind, according to its previous disposi- 
tion and preparatory state. We know, as a 
matter of fact, that the most solemn divine 
testimonies, the most awful proclamations of 
wrath and mercy, the most conclusive proofs, 
the most persuasive considerations, the most 
affecting addresses, the most lively descriptions, 
and the most powerful appeals to the passions, 
not only fail to engage many minds to love 
God and to obey him from the heart, but 
often become the innocent occasion of growing 
aversion to God and holiness. The discourses 
and miracles of our Saviour before the Pharisees 
and rulers, is a case in point. The very same 
things excited the love of some, and the hatred 
of others. And this the apostles, and subse- 
quent preachers of the gospel ever since, have 
had abundant cause to notice, — and the parable 
of the sower illustrates it. If moral suasion 
were of itself sufficient, addressed to the reason 
and free-will of men, none of our Saviours 
hearers would have remained unconverted. But 



34 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i, 



the rejectors of liim and his gospel wanted a 
good and honest heart. 

§ 5.. We must therefore conclude, that the 
operation which renders the means effectual to 
salvation, is internal, or in the person himself. 
The word of God is in itself perfect, and needs 
no operation to make it more excellent : con- 
sequently it is not in, nor, strictly speaking, with 
the word, in order to make it different from 
what it always was. It must then be a physical 
operation as contradistinguished from what is 
moral. Let not the reader be alarmed at the 
term physical operation ; for we do by no means 
intend by it what some have been pleased to 
suggest. The term is used by Calvinists — not 
to convey the idea of producing a superadded 
physical power, or natural faculty, but — to 
represent a positive and actual agency by the 
Holy Spirit, enabling the person to exercise the 
powers he had before, in a proper manner. It 
is not used as a contrast to spiritual or super- 
natural, but rather to any agency which may be 
supposed to exist in objects of choice presented 
to the mind. The latter are properly denomi- 
nated moral means, because they act according 
to the will and disposition of the person. 



§ 6. Hence, the immediate object of the 



Sect. hi. On Divine Operations. 35 

Spirit's operation is not the will, but the heart, 
as the source of moral actions. A physical; or 
positive influence on the will itself directly, 
would in the same degree destroy its freedom ; 
whereas a direct influence on the heart leaves 
the freedom unimpaired. The will can only be 
solicited by objective means, or indirectly influ- 
enced by an inward principle. And in every 
virtuous choice there must be both a virtuous 
principle and a worthy object of choice pre- 
sented to the mind, — and each is equally essen- 
tial. A worthy object presented where the 
principle is bad, will never generate a virtuous 
choice; and a worthy, principle where the 
object is unworthy, is equally barren and in- 
effectual. If it be said that an unworthy 
object may be rejected, as well as a worthy 
one chosen, and each virtuous ; it is answered, 
that such a rejection is virtuous only in a 
negative sense. Where the virtue is positive 
there is always implied a more worthy object 
preferred, in comparison of it. To reject idols 
or falsehood is but a negative virtue; but to 
prefer God to idols, or truth to falsehood, where 
that preference is sincere and cordial, is positive 
virtue. 

§' 7. The end of divine operations must be 
to produce a virtuous principle, or in the lan- 
guage of the prophet, to " take, away the heart 



36 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 



of stone, and to give a heart of flesh." Free- 
will, under the direction of this principle, or as 
far as the principle exists, ever chooses virtu- 
ously. It never disapproves of gospel truth 
fairly presented to it; but, on the contrary, 
receives and lives upon it. It is possible, 
indeed, that a person possessed of a holy prin- 
ciple may be embarrassed, with respect to some 
very important parts of gospel truth, through 
the defect of language, or his misconception of 
terms, or the prejudices of education or of 
party,— in a word, through some defect of 
representation : but let that defect be removed, 
the person still retaining the virtuous principle, 
and no essential part of holy truth will be 
rejected. He cannot thus commit sin, " for his 
seed remaineth in him." His co-operation by* 
free-will with the revealed will of God, will 
be in exact proportion to the clearness with 
which he perceives it, and the godly sincerity 
of his principle. — To suppose that free-will, 
while the disposition is good, receives not 
the blessings fairly represented to it in the 
gospel of the grace of God, and in the same 
proportion, is as unreasonable, as to suppose 
that a thing acts contrary to its own proper 
nature. 

§ 8. We may further observe, that the 
principle generated by divine operation illu- 



sect. iti. On Divine Operations. 3^ 

urinates the mind ; enabling it to discover the 
spiritual nature and superior excellency of the 
truths revealed in the sacred oracles, — to 
know what is the hope of our calling, and 
what are the riches of our glorious inherit- 
ance. God, who commanded the light to 
shine out of darkness, shines into our hearts, 
whereby we discover the glories of the divine 
perfections as displayed in the person and work 
of Jesus Christ. Whereas to the unprincipled 
the light of revealed truth shines without effect ; 
their darkness comprehendeth it not ; their un- 
derstanding continues dark, " being alienated 
from the life of God, through the ignorance 
that is in them, because of the blindness (or 
hardness) of their heart." While the heart is 
hard, the understanding will be blind, to the 
same degree, notwithstanding the outward light 
of truth in the scriptures. Hence the ablest 
expositors and preachers have cause. to pray that 
God may prepare the hearts of their, readers 
and hearers, that they may earnestly attend to, 
that they may understand, that they may 
" mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the truths 
represented. 

§ 9. From the premises we learn, that the 
co-operation of man is subsequent to the opera- 
tion of God, — and that man co-operates freely, 
willingly, and cordially; the holy principle 



38 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 



generated disposing the subject of it to admire, 
love, and prefer what is really and relatively 
excellent. We also learn, that the subject of 
divine operation, in his religious elections, acts 
not only from principle but also intelligently. 
He knows in whom he believes, and whom he 
serves, the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom he hath sent. He discovers the evil of sin 
and the beauty of holiness — he is wise unto 
salvation he chooses an end worthy of God to 
reveal, and adopts the means prescribed for 
obtaining it— -in proportion to the principle pro- 
duced by divine operation. These are truths 
which cannot be denied, I conceive, without 
denying that principles operate according to 
their appropriate nature,— and confounding free- 
will with unmeaning chance. 

§ 10. His Lordship next avows, that the 
communication of the Holy Ghost is subse- 
quent to belief. * In the following passage,' he 
observes, < Saint Paul represents the faith of 
' the Ephesians in Christ to have been the 
' consequence of their having heard the gospel 
' preached, and the communication of the Holy 
( Ghost to have been subsequent to their faith, 
" In whom (namely in Christ) ye also trusted, 
■ after that ye heard the word of truth, the 
( gospel of your salvation ; in whom also, after 
< that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy 



sect. in. On Divine Operations. 3,9 

4 Spirit of promise The order . to be here 
f noticed is this, — first, the hearing of the word ; 
- secondly, belief produced by that ; thirdly, 
1 the communication of the Spirit in conse- 
• quence of that belief. From these examples, 
■ which comprehend Jewish, Samaritan, and 
i Gentile converts, we conclude in general, that 
i those to whom the apostles preached, ex- 
6 pressed their faith in Christ, before the Holy 
c Ghost was poured out upon them ; and that 
' the Spirit w r as ?iever communicated to those 
' who refused to believe,'* 

§ 11. In the passage now quoted there are 
several objectionable particulars, especially if it 
be intended to weigh against Calvinism. For, 
in the first place, it takes for granted what 
neither is, nor can be proved, viz. That the're 
is but one kind of communication of the Holy 
Spirit. Now, it is plain that in the Old Testa- 
ment times holy persons were the subjects of 
divine influence, in a manner altogether different 
from the communication of the Holy Ghost to 
which his Lordship alludes. Is it supposable 
that from the beginning of time to the present, 
there have been any holy persons, who were not 
the subjects of divine operation, — and yet how 
few of these were the subjects of extraordinary 



♦ Refut. p. 21. 



40 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 

communications and miraculous gifts? Was 
not Peter the subject of holy influence and 
an enlightening principle, before he had any 
visibly miraculous communication of the Holy 
Ghost?* Had not all the faithful apostles of 
Christ a sanctifying operation of the Spirit 
before the day of Pentecost? Do .not men 
now pray, that God would " cleanse the thoughts 
and desires of their hearts by the inspiration of 
his Holy Spirit?" In short, few things are more 
plain, relating to divine operations, than the 
existence of both a merely internal, and , a 
miraculous operation of the Spirit. And their 
design is evidently different ; — the one being to 
promote religion and salvation in the individual 
who is the subject of it, the other to propagate 
Christianity in the world, during the minority of 
the Christian church. 

§12. In the next place, from the unproved 
assumption now mentioned, his Lordship draws 
this general conclusion, - That those to whom 
' the apostles preached, expressed their faith in 
1 Christ, before the Holy Ghost was poured out 
c upon them.' The question however ought to be, 
jn order to disprove the doctrine of Calvinists, — 
not, whether faith preceded the extraordinary 
and miraculous effusion of the Spirit, but 



* Matt. xvi. 17. 



sect. in. On Divine Operations* 41 

whether saving faith is prior to his internal, 
ordinary, and enlightening influence. That those 
to whom the apostles preached expressed their 
faith in Christ, before they received the one, is 
no conclusive argument that they were not the 
subjects of the Other operation prior to the 
expression of their faith. What is recorded of 
Lydia is a case in point. It is expressly said,, 
that " the Lord opened her heart," as the pre- 
disposing cause of her attention and faith. 

§ 13. The statement made in the quotation, 
it may be further observed, confounds the exer- 
cise of faith with its principle. No Calvinist 
denies, that the hearing of the word precedes 
the exercise of faith ; for we constantly main- 
tain that belief is produced by hearing, or, as 
the apostle expresses it, that " faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." 
There can be no belief without a testimony; 
but surely the thing believed can no more 
produce the principle or spirit of faith, than 
the act of reasoning can produce the reasoning- 
faculty, or the act of volition produce the will. 
We are neither so unscriptural nor unreasonable 
as to suppose, that believing, trusting, or sealing, 
are not preceded by hearing : we set forth the 
testimony of God before our hearers, in order 
that they may believe and trust in it, and that 
they may be sealed with the Holy Spirit of 



42 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



CIl. i. 



promise as the . consequent privilege: but we 
should offend against scripture and reason, were 
we to profess that the principle of faith, any 
more than the testimony believed, is " of our- 
selves," as the production of free-will. 

§ 14. Equally inapplicable to Calvinists is 
.the intimation, that they (for who else can be 
intended by his Lordship?) pretend that the 
Spirit is sometimes communicated to those who 
refuse to believe. We freely grant, and openly 
profess, that the communication of the Spirit in 
an extraordinary manner for the first propaga- 
tion of Christianity, was subsequent to belief, 
and consequently ' was never communicated to 
those who refused to believe,' — and we are as 
ready to deny that any person is the subject of 
divine influence, and at the same time refuses 
to believe. But to suppose a person prior to 
such influence refused to believe, and believed 
in consequence of it,- is neither inconsistent 
with scripture nor with reason. Few will deny, 
that Saul of Tarsus became the subject of 
divine operation, when previously he had refused 
to believe ; for he was " breathing out threat- 
en ings and slaughter against the disciples of 
the Lord," at the very time he was arrested by 
divine power between Jerusalem and Damascus. 
But no sooner did he experience that heavenly 
power, than his enmity against the Saviour and 



sect, in. On Divine Operations. 43 

his disciples was subdued, and ' he refused to 
believe' no longer : for to imagine that be first 
believed, without receiving the spirit of - faith, 
but that this was imparted to him as the con- 
sequence of believing, is at variance with all 
analogy. But the insufficiency of reason and 
free-will to make the heart good, or to beget a 
spiritual principle of saving faith, has been 
already considered. 

§ 15. It is very explicitly avowed by 
his . Lordship, that baptism washes away sin, 
and imparts the ■ Holy Ghost. ' The rite of 

* baptism,' he observes, ' was ordained by Christ 
c himself ; and its two-fold office is here [Acts 
6 ii. 38.] described by his apostle, namely, that 

* it washes azvay the guilt of former sin, and 

* imparts the Holy Ghost to those who shall 
'previously have repented and believed. It had 
' been foretold by John the Baptist, that Christ 
■ should baptize with the Holy Ghost, meaning, 
4 that the baptism instituted by Christ, and 
' administered by his apostles and their sue- 
< cessors, should convey the supernatural assist- 
ance of the Spirit of God. This communica- 
6 tion being made at baptism, at the time of 

* admission into the gospel covenant, every 

* Christian must possess the invaluable blessing 
? of preventing grace, which, without extin- 
i guishmg the evil propensities of our nature, 



44 



Modlrn Calvinism Defended. ch, i. 



* inspires ho=y desires, suggests good counsels, 
6 and excites to just works.'* As to the quo- 
tation from Dr. Barrow, which asserts that this 
" hath been the doctrine constantly, and with 
very general consent, delivered in the Catholic 
church," it proves, one thing at least,— that 
the Catholic church has never been so pure 
but it needed reformation; needed it, in pro- 
portion as the sentiment here maintained is 
inconsistent with the genuine sense of the 
sacred scriptures, and the- reasonableness of 
Christianity. And whether this be not . the 
fact let us now proceed calmh 7 and impartially 
to examine. 

§ 16\ That the rite of baptism was ordained 
by Christ himself is admitted on all sides; but 
that its two-fold office is to icash axcay the guilt 
of sin, and to impart the Holy Ghost, according 
to Peter, or any other inspired writer, wants 
proof. " Then Peter said unto them, Repent, 
and be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."f 
Here the first question is, with what remission 
of sin stands connected ? With repentance, with 
baptism, or with both united ? Let Peter himself 
answers " Repent ye therefore and be con- 



* Refut. p. 29. + Acts ii. 38. 



sect. in. On Divine Operations. 45 

verted, that your sins may be blotted out, when 
die times of refreshing- shall come, &c."* We 
know from scripture testimony that the peni- 
tent shall be pardoned, though unbaptized; 
and we know too that every baptized person 
was not pardoned, as in the case of Simon 
Magus. Consequently, the union of repentance 
and baptism was not an indispensable condition 
for the remission of sin. It is therefore plain, 
that as baptism was not, either alone or united 
with repentance, inseparably connected, even in 
the apostolic age, with the remission of sin, it 
was not one office of baptism to " wash away 
the guilt of former sins." Peter's expression 
must mean, to make it consistent with other 
scriptures, " Repent — for the remission of sins, 
be baptized every one of you in the name of 
Jesus Christ;" so that baptism is urged as a 
suitable mode of testifying their repentance, 
because an instituted rite of entering into a> 
new visible relation to Jesus Christ, the true 
Messiah. 

§ 17. Baptism, being " an outward, visible 
sign, of an inward spiritual grace," represents 
the washing away of sin ; but it is not the sign 
that effects it, though by a common figure of 
speech it is put for that which does so in reality. 



* Acts iii. 19. 



46 Modern Calvinism Defended.' ch. i. 

Thus David figuratively ascribes to the sign 
what evidently belongs to the thing signified. 
" Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. 1 ' * 
What really takes away the guilt of past sins, 
is the merit of Christ's obedience unto death in 
our stead, and which, according to the plan of 
divine mercy in the gospel, we are encouraged 
to receive by faith for that end. " The blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son, cleanse th us from all 
sin."f " If the blood of bulls, and of goats, and 
the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, 
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how 
much more shall the blood of Christ — purge 
your conscience from dead works to serve 
the living God?" J Hence we may see, that 
to ascribe to baptism the washing away ■ of 
guilt is to confound the sign with the thing 
signified. 

§ 18. Nor can it be consistently maintained, 
that the thing signified is, in its application, 
inseparably associated with baptism. That it 
may please God, in some instances, to apply 
the blessing at the ministration of the ordinance 
is not disputed ; because he may do it then as 
well as at any other time: but that he has laid 
himself under the obligation of a promise to do 
so, does not appear from his word, — and plain 



*Pw.'M.7. f 1 John i. 7. + Heb. ix. 13, 14c 



sect* in. On Divine Operations. 47 

facts recorded there, as before shewn, prove the 
contrary. The same may be said of imparting 
the Holy Ghost ; for this plain reason, that 
there appears no greater connection between 
baptism and the giving of the Spirit, than 
between baptism and the remission of sin. It 
is allowed, as before concerning the remission 
of sin, that God may give his. spirit to the 
baptized person at the time of ministration, 
because he is confined to no time; and it 
is proper to pray for the blessing on that 
occasion, not only because we may ask it of 
our Father in heaven at all times, as children, 
may ask a gift of their earthly parents, but also 
because the use of the sign is calculated to 
remind us of our need, and to excite our desires 
after the blessing represented. 

§ 19- The same remark is applicable to the 
ancient custom of ". laying hands" on the head 
of a person in some peculiarly act of solemn 
prayer. It is an outward sign whereby the 
subject is affectionately discriminated from 
others, and in the use of which blessings have 
been sought. Hence the employment of it is 
calculated not only to bring to remembrance 
God's promised blessing of his Holy Spirit, but 
also to increase our importunity. The miracu- 
lous gifts of the Spirit were bestowed upon 
many in the Christian church long after their 



48 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. f. 

baptism, — as is evident from the following 
passage ; " Now when the apostles which were 
at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria .had received 
the word of God, they sent unto them Peter 
and John. Who when they w r ere come down, 
prayed for them, that they might receive the 
Holy Ghost. (For as yet he was fallen upon 
none of them:, only they were baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their 
hands on them, and they received the Holy 
Ghost. And when Simon saw that through 
laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy 
Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, 
Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I 
lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost." # 
Here, not baptism but the imposition of hands 
was the outward sign; not at the time of 
baptism, but at some future period. Had the 
Holy Ghost been imparted by baptism, as a 
matter of course, Simon would not have been 
destitute of the heavenly gift. 

§ 20. But his Lordship supposes, that it is the 
office of baptism to impart the Holy Ghost to 
those who shall ' previously have repented and 
* believed.'' Here w r e might ask, did any ever 
believe and repent without the influence of 
the Holy Ghost? Is not the spirit of faith and 



* Acts yiii. 14—19. 



sect. in. On Divine Operations* 49 

repentance a heavenly gift? Do not all true 
penitents and believers readily ascribe this to the 
- Father of lights, and the exalted Lord and 
Saviour? Does not supplication to God for the 
spirit of love, of repentance and faith, for 
unbaptizeel persons imply the same? Is not 
this communication of the Holy Spirit's influ- 
ence different from his miraculous effusion, 
designed' for different purposes, and attended 
with different effects ? and was not that which 
was extraordinary given in a manner, and at 
different intervals of time, sufficient to prove 
that it was not the office of baptism to impart 
it? It is well worthy of consideration, whether 
to pray for < the same kind of operation now, as 
what followed the apostolic laying- on of hands, 
be not as much chargeable with presumption 
and enthusiasm, as to pray for the gift of 
tongues, or for power to raise the dead. 

§ 21. ■ His Lordship, when explaining the 
meaning of John the Baptist, asserts, that 
baptism administered by the apostles and their 
successors, ' should convey the supernatural 
6 assistance of the Spirit of God.' If this, 
however, was the only use of baptism, it ought 
to have been discontinued from the time of the 
apostles, or at least of their immediate successors, 
when similar effects no longer followed. How 
much more worthy of the sacred oracles is the 

E 



50 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. I, 



other interpretation, viz. That the effusion of the 
Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was itself 
a kind of baptism, an initiation into the mys- 
teries of Christ's spiritual reign, rather than 
a mystical effect of water baptism? That the 
word baptism was sometimes used figuratively 
by Christ and his apostles, as well as by John 
the Baptist, is evident. When our Lord was 
about to be initiated into his last sufferings, he- 
says, " I have a baptism to be baptized with, 
and how am I straitened till it be accom- 
plished?"* — " Are ye able to drink of the cup 
that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with 
the baptism that I am baptized with ? — Ye shall 
drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with 
the baptism that I am baptized with."f Here 
evidently the " cup" denotes deep sorrow ; and 
" baptism" a being devoted to, set apart for, or 
initiated into that state in which he exclaimed, 
« " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto 
death." % St. Paul says, that the Israelites were 
baptized into Moses, when he clearly means 
initiated into his dispensation : and Saint Peter 
calls a sincere confession of the Christian faith 
baptism. Noah and his family, by entering into 
the ark, were initiated into a new dispensation, 
and persons entering into the Christian church 
professed the same ; and when their answer 

* Luke ffi. 5. f Matt. xx.22 ; 23. J lb. xxyI. 33. 



sect. in. On Divine Operations. 51 

proceeded from " a good conscience," purified 
by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, it 
was connected with salvation :■* the apostle 
expressly declares that by baptism he meant, 
" The answer of a good conscience towards 
God." If, therefore, the word was thus used 
figuratively by Christ and his apostles, why 
must John the Baptist, as above quoted, speak- 
ing of Christ baptizing with the Holy Ghost, 
be debarred from the figurative use of it; 
especially when the literal sense, expressing 
water baptism, is encumbered with so many 
and such insuperable difficulties. 

§ 22. It must be allowed by every well- 
informed and dispassionate person, that many 
who have succeeded the apostles officially, were 
contemptible moral characters. Be that as it 
may, to suppose that a penitent believer has not 
the Spirit of God imparted to him until he has 
been baptized, but has this blessing after, if but 
administered in due form by a successor of the 
apostles, (even though resembling Simon Magus 
in the temper of his mind,) is the direct way to 
a contempt of the religion that professes it, 
and to promote the cause of infidelity. That 
the unworthiness of the minister does not dis- 
annul the real design of a divinely instituted 

* 1 Pet. iii, 22. 



52 



Moder* Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 



ordinance, is fully admitted. The objection 
lies against the pretended design or office of 
baptism. Baptism itself, however unworthy the 
minister, we maintain, exhibits, in a very signi- 
cant manner, our need of moral purity, — the 
mercy of God by Jesus Christ in making- 
provision for it according to the gospel, — and 
our obligations to renounce every thing incon- 
sistent with Christianity. The notion of a 
divinely instituted rite conferring grace ex 
opere operato, or as a condition sine qua non, or 
by any appointed inseparable connection of the 
sign and the thing signified, ought to be buried 
in oblivion, with other Jewish and Popish pre- 
judices, lest the holy ordinances of God be 
exposed to contempt. If we would defend 
the gospel against unbelievers, or confirm the 
faith of Christians, let us not insult their 
understanding ; but shew that its doctrines and 
institutions are not unreasonable, however 
inadequate the principles of reason were to 
discover them a priori. 

§ 23. ' Every Christian must possess the 
6 invaluable blessing of preventing grace.' This 
we cannot allow, unless by ' Christian' be meant, 
one who bears the moral image of Christ, as 
distinguished from one who is merely baptized. 
To suppose that the communication of the 
invaluable blessing of grace is made ' at 



sect. in. On Divine Operations. 53 

< baptism, at the time of admission into the gospel 
; covenant/ as a matter of course, in virtue of 
some appointed rule of operation, is not less 
unscriptural, than the sentiment, that the insti- 
tution of confirmation communicates confirming 
grace, or the divine ordinance of marriage 
conveys the grace of a spiritual union to him 
who is the head and husband of his church. 
In short, the sentiment mixes heaven and earth, 
and confounds physical and moral connections. 
That God may communicate grace at baptism, 
was before admitted : but that this or any other 
institution can impart, convey, or communicate 
grace, or is adapted in its nature to be the 
channel of conveyance, is an idea perfectly incon- 
gruous and irreconcileable with just views of 
divine operations, and of sacred rites, By 
baptism, indeed, we are brought into a new 
visible relation; and in an external sense may 
be said to be made or constituted " children of 
God, members of Christ, and inheritors of the 
kingdom of heaven." But we cannot suppose 
this new relation to be an inward change, or an 
introduction into a saving relation to God, and 
Christ, and heaven, without in effect supposing 
that a baptized hypocrite is a good Christian ; 
that a man under the prevailing influence of 
the world, the flesh, and the devil, if baptized, 
is a spiritual child of God; that a baptized 
person, though full of the lust of the flesh, the 



54 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 



lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is a 
worthy member of Christ, and in the way to 
heaven! Neither baptism, the Lords Supper, 
nor any other ordinance can become inwardly 
profitable to the subject, except according to 
the proper use he makes of it. This, I am 
aware, some may controvert ; for there are some 
who do call in question the first principles of 
knowledge, and the proper nature of things, 
as well as the verities of holy writ. 

§ 24. Until it be made apparent that bap- 
tismal internal grace has an existence, little 
need be said about its supposed properties. 
It cannot be doubted that subjective internal 
holy influence is the source of holy desires, 
good counsels, and just works; but to affirm 
that it inspires, suggests, and excites them, 
seems to Jbe an employment of figurative lan- 
guage calculated to mislead the judgment, and 
therefore misplaced. However, we are told 
that this preventing grace does not ' extinguish 
' the evil propensities of our nature.' But surely 
the tendency of all divine graee, is to extinguish 
the fire of sinful lusts, and to counteract evil 
propensities ; and a person in whom no degree 
of flagrant evil is extinguished, though bap- 
tized, has no degree of holy grace. For if to 
extinguish and counteract evil be not an effect, 
by what medium can its existence be proved ? 



sect. in. On Dixine Operations. 55 

If his Lordship means that there is a degree of 
holy influence which does not imply a perfec- 
tion of character, or that persons may he found 
who were not made perfect at baptism, all 
modern Calvinists, he it remembered, are of 
the same opinion. 

§ .25. 6 If grace were irresistible,' his Lord- 
ship asserts, ' men could not depart from it, 
* and fall into sin.'* In this hypothetical propo- 
sition we may notice the ambiguity of the 
terms f grace' and ' irresistible.' The Calvinists 
do not maintain that grace, in every acceptation 
of the word, is irresistible. A little reflection 
may satisfy any candid person, that in scripture 
usage it conveys different ideas, according to 
the connection; and especially these three — • 
exhibited favour, an internal principle of spi- 
ritual light and life, and Christian virtues in 
exercise. Fact proves, that exhibited favours, 
as gospel truth, Christ, and salvation, are 
actually resisted; and therefore grace in this 
acceptation (which is common in scripture) is 
not irresistible. And fact further proves, that 
Christian virtues, as faith, hope, and charity, are 
resisted by our depraved propensities, at least 
in some degree. When, therefore, Calvinists 
maintain that grace is irresistible, they mean an 



* Refut. p. 63. 



56 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. i. 

internal principle of light and life. And the 
reason why they think so is, that it is not an 
ohject exhibited or presented to the will. When 
there is no option, there can be no voluntary 
rejection. Thus the principle of reason is 
irresistible in every subject of it, though its 
proper use, and those things which are adapted 
to improve it, are often resisted. In like 
manner, though the principle of divine grace is 
irresistible, those things are often resisted, 
which in their own nature are adapted to 
promote gracious determinations, affections, 
and obedience. 

§ 2(5. Yet, there is a sense in which we 
believe that grace, as to its use and exercise, is 
irresistible by any thing without or within the 
mind. In what cases, and to what degree, must 
depend on the sovereign will of God. If God 
design (and who can question his right to 
design?) that his internal grace shall not be 
resisted, is it not in that degree irresistible? 
When Calvinists plead for the irresistibility of 
grace, they take two things into account : First, 
the nature of that grace which they intend ; — 
not the common favour contained in the annun- 
ciation of gospel blessings, or in the exhibition 
of mercy by any divine institution, but the 
gracious operation of the Holy Spirit producing 
a new heart, or a right principle of action. 



sect. in. On Divine Operations. 57 

Secondly, they take into the account the will 
of God, supporting and strengthening the prin- 
ciple, making it victorious over every difficulty. 
To plead that common favour— the grace of 
God that bringeth salvation, the proclamation 
of mercy which is destined for all men — is 
resistible, or to set the will of God — 'his 
efficacious purpose respecting the vital holy 
principle — out of the question, is to plead 
without a cause, and to contend without an 
opposer. What can be plainer in fact, or more 
reasonable in thought, than that God imparts 
his favours when, where, how, to whom, and to 
what degree he pleases ? And if he determine 
that any possessed of a gracious principle shall 
continue to the end victorious over every resist- 
ance, who will be so presumptuous as to say, 
that hisgrace in them can be successfully resisted? 
Is it not to limit his mercy and omnipotence? 

§ 27. That good men can fail into sin is a 
painful fact; and it is equally certain that God 
is " able to keep them from falling" — " to keep 
them by his mighty power through faith unto 
salvation." Their liability to fall is of them- 
selves, but their ability to stand is of God. 
While he keeps them from falling," they 
cannot fall ; but if left to themselves they both 
can and will fall. A deep sense of this de- 
pendence upon God, is the essence of true 



58 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. i. 



devotion ; and its language is, " Hold thou me 
up, O Lord, and I shall be safe; — without thee, 
divine Saviour, I can do nothing; but I can do 
all things if thou strengthen me/' Were there 
no defect in our nature, or were that defect 
counteracted by confirming grace, there would 
be no falling into sin. But to contend, that he 
ought to do this for us, either in justice or in 
mercy, is surely both impious and absurd : 
impious, as impeaching his actual conduct; for 
he does not keep any of his servants, while in 
this world, in a state of sinless perfection : 
" there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth 
good and sinneth not," and " if we sav that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us.'' The requisition moreover is 
absurcl: it manifestly implies that God ought 
to confer upon us all the favour he can 
confer, — that his favours are not at his ow r n 
disposal, — that he ought to act to the extent of 
possibility in shewing mercy : and to say, that 
mercy, or grace, or any favour is due to the 
creature, is clearly a direct contradiction, both 
in meaning and in terms. 

§ 28. It is further asserted by his Lord- 
ship, that irresistible grace cannot be employed 
as an argument for private care and diligence. 
His words are : £ God does not so work in us as 
6 to exclude our own care and industry ; that 



sect. in. On Divine Operations, 59 

' is, he does not work irresistibly. For, sup- 
< posing God to work irresistibly, the wit of 
* man cannot make an argument out of it for 
' private care and diligence."* Taking the 
words ' irresistible grace' in the sense before 
explained, and as Calvinists use them, the ob- 
jection has no more force than the following, 
viz. ' supposing God to work irresistibly' in 
imparting to us the principle of reason, we 
' cannot make an argument out of it for private 
' care and diligence,' respecting the improve- 
ment and right use of it. Again, the succession 
of day and night, summer and winter, seed time 
and harvest, is uncontroulable by man, there- 
fore he ' cannot make an argument out of it 
' for private care and diligence,' to work while 
it is day, to provide in summer for the winter 
season, or to sow his seed that he may reap his 
harvest in due time. Or, because every seed, 
every plant, and every animal, has its own 
peculiar nature, and the principles of its nature 
are irresistibly wrought in it, we c cannot make 
an argument out of it for private care and 
diligence,' by improving that nature and cherish- 
ing those principles. 

§ 29. Surely, if the certainty and irresistibility 
of principles in physical nature, be no good argu^ 



* Refut. p. 37. 



60 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch\ f. 



ment against the propriety of private care and 
diligence, or do not supersede our own industry, 
whether these principles be in ourselves or in 
others, some good reason should be assigned 
why the same is not applicable to gracious 
nature. Nay, if in physical nature the irresisti- 
bility of a principle, and the certainty of its 
continuance, is a strong argument for care and 
industry in its cultivation, we are entitled to 
ask, why the irresistibility of grace, in the 
sense explained, should not be an argument 
of equal force for fear and diligence, care and 
industry? What God requires, should be at- 
tended to with care and diligence; but he 
requires belief, love, fear, hope, and universal 
obedience. Now is it conceivable that the 
principle, from whence these required graces 
proceed, being the irresistible work of God, 
is inconsistent with such requisitions? We do 
not say, with the Remonstrants, that our pos- 
sessing the principle is the foundation of the 
requirement, but that the possession of it is a 
corroborating argument for the exercise of these 
required graces and tempers. In a word, the 
irresistibility of a divine nature in its bestow- 
ment, is a strong argument for its careful, in* 
dustrious, and diligent improvement. 



Chap. II. 



AVOWED SENTIMENTS OF THE BISHOP ON REGENERA- 
TION, JUSTIFICATION, FAITH, AND GOOD WORKS, 
EXAMINED. 

Sect. I. 

The Bishop's avowed Sentiments on Regeneration^ 
examined, 

\ 1. The subject stated. 

$ 2. The word Regeneration as used by Calvinists. § 3. Admitted 
by them in different senses. § 4. They do not confound Rege- 
neration and Conversion. § 5. Nor limit the time of either. 
§ 6. Remarks on being " born of Water and of the Spirit." 

^ 7. In what sense Baptism may be called a new birth. § 8. A 
spiritual change not an immediate effect of Baptism. § 9. The 
formation of Christian virtues and tempers may be called Regene- 
ration. § 10. The Calvinists do not confound Regeneration with 
*« indefectible grace." 

^ 11—25. Passages out of the New Testament produced by the 
Bishop to prove that Regeneration signifies Baptism, examined, 
*j 26. Christians have a double birth. § 27. Candidates for 
Baptism were supposed to be regenerated in the scriptural sense. 

§ 28—31. The meaning of the term Regeneration, as used by the 
Christian Fathers, examined. 

§ 1. XJnder this head, we find his Lord- 
ship explicitly avowing, and indeed contending, 
that regeneration is the immediate effect of 
baptism — and is never used in scripture or by 
the Fathers to express any operation upon the 
human mind subsequent to baptism. Thus he 
states his thoughts on the term itself and its 
meaning. ' As the term Regeneration, or New- 



62 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



1 birth, is frequently used by modern Calvinists, 
4 when speaking of their favourite tenets of in- 
' stantaneous conversion and indefectible grace, 
4 it may be proper to explain the application 
' and true meaning of this word in scripture, 
6 and in the public formularies of our church. — ■ 
'Those who are baptized are immediately trans- 
' lated from the curse of Adam to the grace of 
4 Christ. — They become reconciled to God, par- 
' takers of the Holy Ghost, and heirs of eternal 
1 happiness. — This great and wonderful change 
4 in the condition of man is as it were a new 
4 nature, a new state of existence ; and the holy 
6 rite by which these invaluable blessings are 
4 communicated is by St. Paul figuratively called 
" Regeneration," or New-birth. Many similar 
1 phrases occur in the New Testament, such 
1 as " born of Water and of the Spirit;" "begotten 
4 again unto a lively hope " dead in sins, and 
4 quickened together with Christ;" " buried with 
£ Christ in baptism ;" " born again, not of cor- 
4 ruptible seed, but of incorruptible." — " Baptism 
' doth now save us, by the resurrection of 
4 Jesus Christ." " According to his mercy he 
i saved us by the washing of regeneration, and 
' the renewing of the Holy Ghost." " Except 
4 a man be born again, he cannot see the 
6 kingdom of God." # 4 The word Regeneration 



* Refut. p. 83. 



sect, t* On Regeneration. 63 

1 therefore is in scripture solely and exclusively 
4 applied to the one immediate effect of baptism 
' once administered, and is never used as syno- 
' nymous to the repentance or reformation of a 
' Christian, or to express any operation of the 
' Holy Ghost upon the human mind subsequent 
' to baptism.'* His Lordship also quotes the 
following passages with approbation: " The 
Christians did in all ancient times continue 
the use of this name for baptism ; so as that 
they nexer use the word regenerate or born 
again, but that they mean or denote by it 
baptism."f " Regeneration in the language of 
the Fathers constantly signifies the participation 
of the sacrament of baptism."^: 

§ 2. The c modern Calvinists,' it is true, use 
the word ~" Regeneration," to express something 
different from baptism ; but not what his Lord- 
ship ascribes to them — not c instantaneous con- 
4 version and indefectible grace.' The previous 
question here is, whether they are authorized to 
use this word, in different connections, with 
different acceptations, provided they give a 
definition of their meaning? Supposing, without 
granting, that the word in scripture usage always 



* Refut. p. 86. 

t Wall's Hist, of Icf. Bapt. Intr. Sect 6. Refut. p. 87, 
% Nicholls on Com. Pray. Refut. p, 88, 



64 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. II, 



denotes baptism, by what law are they deprived 
of the customary privilege of using any word, 
in any language, to denote a determinate mean- 
ing affixed to it, when that meaning is an- 
nounced and stated? And if it be lawful thus 
to use a word differently from the inspired 
writers, (as is frequently allowed in other 
instances) much more is it lawful to deviate 
from the custom of ecclesiastical writers, whe- 
ther ancient Fathers or English Reformers. 
This, however, is urged only for argument' sake. 

§ 5. Modern Calvinists admit the term Re- 
generation in three acceptations, principally, 
according to the connection. First, as denoting, 
figuratively, baptism : secondly, the immediate 
effect of divine influence on the mind : thirdly, 
the formation of Christian tempers and graces. 
The Christian Fathers, and after them many of 
the Protestant Reformers — by a frequent figura- 
tive use of the term Regeneration for Baptism, 
the outward sign — have greatly contributed to 
confound both. At first, they no doubt thought 
that the figure was sufficiently plain, and that 
there was no danger of mistaking the one for 
the other. The thing signified being always 
more excellent than the sign, there is a propen- 
sity in the human mind to give the sign the 
more honourable appellation. Sometimes the 
thing signified is to be inferred, without any 



sect. i. On Regeneration. 

determinate name distinct from the sign. In 
this case, there is an equal propensity to magnify 
the latter until the former is totally eclipsed. 
Thus the Jews made circumcision, as an out- 
ward rite, to be both the sign and thing sig- 
nified ; or, more properly speaking, the latter 
was absorbed in the former. And when Saint 
Paul contended that the thing signified might 
be enjoyed by the Gentiles without the sign, 
how violent was the opposition! The priests 
and the scribes, the rabbis and the common 
people, almost in a body, opposed him. Of the 
truth of this statement the apostle's letters to 
the Romans, the Galatians, and the Hebrews, 
are abundant evidence, 

§ 4. We do not confound regeneration with 
conversion; for, by the former we understand an 
immediate effect of the operation of God the 
Holy Ghost in the mind ; but by the latter the 
voluntary act of the mind in turning from all 
forbidden objects and pursuits to God and holi- 
1 ness by Jesus Christ, as the consequence of 
regeneration. The important change expressed 
by regeneration is the work of God, and may 
take place in an infant, but conversion, implying 
a voluntary act upon conviction, cannot take 
place in an infant mind. Regeneration may also 
take place at baptism, or before, or after baptism; 
but were we to say that it must be at or by 

F 



66 



Modern Calvinism Defc.vded. ch. ii. 



that ordinance, we ought to stand reproved as 
guilty of enthusiasm, as being wise above what 
is written in the sacred oracles. Conversion 
also, in our view, may take place, before, or 
after, or at baptism; but cannot take place 
without regeneration, any more than voluntary 
motion can be exerted without a vital principle. 
Regeneration, as the immediate effect of divine 
influence, we maintain is instantaneous ; — and so, 
indeed, does his Lordship ; it being, according to 
him, ' the one immediate effect of baptism once 
6 administered nay, so immediate, so instanta- 
neous, that it is never 'subsequent to baptism!' 

§ 5. To limit either regeneration or conver- 
sion to any period of human life, or as the effect 
of any external rite, while the will of God is 
sovereign in dispensing blessings, and the will 
of man is free from constraint, we regard as 
enthusiastic. An opinion which appears a 
priori so very improbable, so inconsistent with 
the analogy of divine dispensations; which 
makes a physical act, as water-baptism is, to be 
a certain medium of a spiritual effect, while the 
subject is entirely passive ; ought, we to conceive, 
before it can be exonerated from this charge, 
to have no dubious evidence of divine authority. 
We study the scriptures, as well as our opponents, 
and conclude that they contain no such evidence. 
His Lordship, however, has produced several 



sect. i. On Regeneration. 67 

passages in support of the contrary opinion. . 
Let us now candidly examine them. 

§ 6. " Bora of Water and of the Spirit." 
There was a dispute among the Jews about 
purifying, occasioned, it should seem, by the 
baptism of John and that of Christ's disciples.* 
Now it seems natural to suppose, that they 
regarded the terms " baptizing," and " purify- 
ing," as synonymous; — and indeed what more 
properly expresses the nature of baptism than a 
ceremonial purification? The " washing of 
water by the word," constitutes the ceremonial 
institution; and the signification is the removal 
of moral impurity. The Jews hastily inferred, 
(and Nicodemus was not free from the prejudice,) 
that baptism itself was enough to constitute a 
complete disciple. But our Lord shews them 
their mistake, by stating, that saving disciple- 
ship includes a heavenly and spiritual, as well as 
a watery birth. Hence, to be baptized is to be 
" born of water;" which introduces the subject 
of it into a visible relation to the Messiah, as 
circumcision introduced its subject into the 
privileges and obligations of the preceding dis- 
pensation ; and to be spiritually regenerated is to 
be " born of the Spirit," without which no one 
can be a spiritual subject of Christ's kingdom, 



* John ill. 22— 26. 



68 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. it.. 



or be rendered meet for heaven. For tint 
which is spiritual must be born of the Spirit; 
as that which is flesh must be born of the flesh, 
or as that which is natural must arise from the 
constituted laws of nature. Can any thing, 
therefore, be plainer than these words to 
shew, first, that to be " born of water" is to be 
baptized, by which we enter on a new state of 
relative existence, or enjoyment of external 
privileges, and consequently of corresponding 
obligations : secondly, that to be " born of the 
Spirit" is an effect of some operation of the 
Spirit of God in the mind, distinct from and 
superior to the baptismal rite: thirdly, that 
those who regard the immediate effect of this 
operation of the Spirit of God in the mind as 
regeneration, are conformable to scripture in the 
use of the term. 

§ 7. We freely admit that to be " born of 
water" is, in an inferior sense, to be " born 
again," when contrasted with our " natural birth f 
for as by the latter we are introduced into a 
new state of existence, so by the former, in a 
figurative sense, we are brought into a new state 
of things, — into new relations to Christ and his 
church, new privileges and obligations, new 
associates and services. In a word, by being 
" born of water" we become externally and 
visibly related to the Christian dispensation, as 



sect. i. On Regeneration. 69 

a man by being circumcised became related to 
the Jewish church. But to infer that an ex- 
ternal rite, hbwever significant, introduces the 
subject of it into a spiritual and saving relation 
to God, was an error into which the Jews had 
very generally fallen, and from which many 
professing Christians are not free. " For he is 
not a Jew, who is one outwardly; neither is 
that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh : 
but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and 
circumcision is. that of the heart, in the spirit, 
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, 
but of God."* Here it is quite clear that cir- 
cumcision was a rite by which a change (i of 
the heart," a change " in the spirit," was the 
thing signified ; and, that persons being circum- 
cised in the flesh was no proof of their being 
circumcised in the spirit. And from the analogy 
of divine dispensations we may conclusively 
argue (mutatis mutandis) with the apostle : he 
is not a Christian who is one outwardly ; neither 
is that baptism which is outward in the flesh ; 
but he is a Christian who is one inwardly; and 
baptism is that of the heart, in the spirit, and 
not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, 
but of God. 

§ 8. Let the candid reader now judge whether 



* Rom. ii. 28, 29* 



70 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii, 

we have any room to infer that a spiritual change - 
is an immediate effect of an external rite ; either 
of circumcision, of baptism, or, by parity of 
reason, of any other. As to the words first 
noticed, " born of water" and " born of the 
Spirit," (for the word born is evidently implied 
in the latter clause), there is no intimation, 
either in the words themselves or in the con- 
nection, that the one birth is the immediate 
effect of the other, any more than being bora 
again of water is the immediate effect of being 
born of the flesh. A mere nominal Christian, 
is born of the flesh and of water; but if changed 
in heart and spirit, he is also born of the Spirit. 
And, if I may express my own conviction, 
every attempt to shew that being " born of the 
Spirit," " born from above," " born of God," and 
the like, denote either baptism itself, or some 
immediate effect of baptism, has a direct 
tendency to expose the simple but sublime 
religion of Jesus Christ to the derision of its 
enemies; — and ought to be as strenuously 
exploded, as the unscriptural and unintelligible 
dogmas of trausubstantiation and consubstan- 
tiation. 

§ 9. It has been observed before, that the 
modern Calvinists use the term Regeneration 
as denoting sometimes the formation of Christian 
virtues and tempers; which acceptation also 



•sect. i. On Regeneration, 71 

they deduce from scripture usage.* In order 
to form that " new man" which consists in 
knowledge, faith, hope, and love, humility, 
meekness, patience, and all holy tempers exer- 
cised by true Christians— the word and ordi- 
nances of God, as well as his Holy Spirit, are 

necessary. But these means are not like mecha- 
t/ 

nicai instruments, producing an effect on the 
human mind irrespective of its own choice; 
since it is a plain fact, that means identically the 
same, produce effects directly opposite. Properly 
speaking, the means are objects proposed to the 
view of the mind, and occasions afforded to 
excite and draw forth into exercise the divine 
life. And thus baptism may be (but not without 
the voluntary concurrence of the subject) the 
means of this regeneration; because it may be 
the occasion of forming knowledge, faith, cha- 
rity, &c. in a mind born of the Spirit. But 
then, on the same ground, this kind of regene- 
ration may also immediately succeed the use of 
the Lords Supper, preaching, reading, or any 
other means of grace. 

§ 10, The Calvinists do not confound Rege- 
neration, in any sense of the term, with ' inde- 
fectible grace.' If at any time they use the 
word 1 indefectible* as a property of grace, they 



* Col. iii, 10. 



72 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. 11- 



distinguish between the act of generating grace 
as a principle of life, and its continuance without 
defection, by divine support. — It is time, how- 
ever, to advert to some other passages, adduced 
by his Lordship to prove that regeneration 
means baptism — ' a single act performed upon 
( every individual.' 

§11. " Begotten again unto a lively hope.' ,# 
These words of Saint Peter, according to his 
Lordship, relate to baptism. Why he should 
think so, it is difficult to say; since there 
appears nothing either in the words themselves 
or in the context to support that conclusion. 
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant 
mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and unde- 
filed, and that fadeth not away, reserved in 
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of 
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be 
revealed in the last time."f In scripture, the 
word Hope is used to express either an exercise 
of mind in reference to seme future good pro- 
mised, or the object itself which is hoped for, 
or the ground on which that hope rests ; and, 
if I mistake not, in every place where the word 



* X Pet. i. 3. 



+ Ver, 2—5, 



sect. I. On Regeneration, 73 

is used, it may be naturally referred to some 
one of these acceptations. The words of Peter, 
however, " lively hope," seem very clearly to 
express an exercise of mind, without a figure. 
For the epithet " lively" is inapplicable to any 
other; and the ground of hope immediately 
follows, " the resurrection of Jesus Christ from 
the dead." Then is expressed immediately the 
object of hope, " an inheritance incorruptible 
and .undefiled, &c." And he who had " begotten 
them again," or regenerated them, to this lively 
hope, was God. In short, Saint Peter blesses 
God for preparing an inheritance in heaven for 
such Christians as are kept by his power 
through faith unto salvation ; and for revealing 
to them the foundation on which they may 
confidently rest their expectation of it, the 
resurrection of Christ; and finally, according 
to the order of end and means, that he had 
regenerated them to a lively expectation of 
obtaining the inheritance. 

§ 1 2. Regeneration, the immediate effect of 
which was " a lively hope," was from " the abun- 
dant mercy of God " principally in three respects. 
In the first place mercy prepared the blessing 
hoped for ; secondly, mercy afforded the pledge, 
which is contained in the gospel; and, thirdly, 
mercy bestowed the principle which is begotten 
in the heart. And in each of these respects it 



74 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. 11. 



is " abundant." The blessing is of inestimable 
worth; an inheritance, a kingdom, an eternal 
weight of glory. The pledge is inconceivably 
precious, the son of God in his humiliation and 
exaltation, accompanied with the ordinances, 
the promises, and the oath of that God who 
cannot lie. And the principle is abundantly 
efficacious, when the mind contemplates the 
blessings and the pledge, the object and the 
foundation, to beget in it a lively, vigorous 
hope, that maketh not ashamed; unto which 
hope the soul is thus regenerated. 

§13. According to his Lordship's interpre- 
tation, however, these expressions, " begotten 
again unto a lively hope," relate to baptism! 
True indeed, a man may be said, figuratively, 
to be born of water, or regenerated by water, 
into a relation to God and Christ, and his 
church, to new privileges and obligations. True 
indeed, baptism is a sign and seal of the New 
Testament: but are not millions of human 
beings regenerated in this figurative sense, 
without a " lively hope?" Were not many 
adult converts actually possessed of it before 
they were baptized? Did they not previous to 
their baptism contemplate the object and the 
basis of their expectation, which excited in 
them a " lively hope?" Did they not profess, 
as candidates for baptism, that they had 



sect, i. On Regeneration, 75 

renounced, as well as that they would continue 
to renounce, all earthly and sensual expecta- 
tions inconsistent with that blessed hope which 
they possessed? And as to baptized infants, — ■ 
how can they be said, without perverting the 
use of language, to be regenerated by baptism 
to a lively hope? They have no knowledge of 
those objects and foundations whereby this 
hope is excited, — and are as destitute of 
Christian hope, as of Christian knowledge, 
of faith in Christ, or of the fear and love of 
God? That they are capable of regeneration, 
indeed, is admitted, as well as of remission, 
justification, holiness of nature, and heavenly 
blessedness : and we reflect with pleasure, 
that the holy scriptures afford many encou- 
raging intimations relative to the salvation of 
dying infants — whether baptized or not. Though 
they have no hope, we have hope concerning 
them. 

§ 14. " Dead in sins, and quickened together 
with Christ."* These expressions, his Lordship 
asserts, relate also to baptism. Let the context 
be examined, that peradventure baptism may be 
found. " But God, who is rich in mercy, for his 
great love wherewith he loved us, even when 
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together 



* Eph. ii. 5. 



76 



Modern Calvinism Depended, ch. n. 



with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;) and hath 
raised us up together, and made us sit together 
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the 
ages to come he might shew the exceeding 
riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us, 
through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye 
saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: 
it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any 
man should boast. For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which 
God hath before ordained that we should walk 
in them."* The same spiritual and sublime 
strain is continued to the end of the chapter: 
but in what one part of the context there is an 
allusion to baptism, I am at a loss to conjecture. 
Let us then examine the words first quoted, 
where, if in any part, we may expect to find it. 
Here is, first, two states contrasted, — " dead in 
sin," and " quickened together with Christ:" 
secondly, an allusion to the resurrection of 
Christ, whereby he was quickened, or his hu- 
manity raised from death to a heavenly life : 
thirdly, the agent quickening us from a state of 
sin is God. But where is baptism ? 

§ 15. It is obvious that the two states are 
intended as a contrast. As the former state, 
therefore, is that of sinful death, the latter 



* Eph. ii. 4—10, 



sect. i. On Regeneration. 77 

must intend that of holy life. The contrast to 
death is life, and the contrast to sin is holiness ; 
not relative, hut real. The contrast to that 
relative holiness to which baptism introduces 
the subject, was a relative uncleanness. But 
will any one pretend, that to be " dead in sins" 
means to be " common or unclean" in an out- 
ward and merely relative sense, as the Gentiles 
were, compared with the Jews ; or as unbelievers 
are compared with professing Christians? Surely 
to be " dead in trespasses and sins," must be 
something very different from being " unbap- 
tized and consequently, to be " quickened" 
from that state, must be something different 
from being " baptized." 

§ 16\ How the allusion contained in the 
words to the resurrection of Christ, can befriend 
baptismal regeneration, is next to be considered. 
It will be found on impartial reflection, I believe, 
that a Christian cannot be said to be " quick- 
ened with Christ" any other way than by divine 
influence, in virtue of a vital union with Christ 
our divine head of influence, and by faith in 
him, who was delivered for our offences, and 
raised again for our justification. To suppose 
that being " born of water" makes us alive 
to God, or begets faith in the subject, has not a 
ray of evidence, either from scripture testimony, 
from observed fact, or from rational analogy: 



78 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. h. 

and to imagine that a spiritual principle of life* 
is the immediate effect of being baptized, is 
about as congruous, as to imagine that a sub- 
stance is the immediate effect of a shadow ! 
"For what is baptism but a shadowy representa- 
tion of that which is spiritual, as the sacra- 
mental supper is of the body and blood of 
Christ? 

§ 17. The author of this change is God, who 
is rich in mercy, and great in love. But is it 
probable, that the richness of his mercy, and the 
greatness of his love towards us, should be so 
emphatically extolled, by the baptismal rite? Is 
it not rather as improbable as, that the same 
attributes should be commended by the rite of 
circumcision, or the ordinance of the Lords 
supper? Might we not, in short, with as great 
propriety exclaim, how rich the genius, and how 
great the wisdom of Sir Christopher Wren, 
who has given us a model of St. Paul's ! It is 
somewhat more natural, I humbly submit, to 
connect the genius and skill with the grand 
structure itself, than with the model. Rich 
grace and great love are indeed manifest in an 
immortal soul being quickened into a moral and 
spiritual life, in giving us a Saviour and raising 
him from the dead, by virtue of which favour 
we may by faith reckon ourselves " dead indeed 
unto sin, but alive unto God but the positive 



sect. i. On Regeneration. 79 

rite that represents this, derives its value by 
reflection, rather than communicates the sub- 
stance. When it can be proved that the sun 
derives his splendour from the moon, then, and 
not before, can it be proved that baptismal re- 
generation communicates quickening grace. 

§ 18. " Buried with Christ in baptism." * 
Here, indeed, we find baptism, but in what 
expression shall we find the idea of spiritual 
blessings being communicated by it? Perhaps 
the context may furnish something like it. 
" And ye are complete in him, which is the 
head of all principality and power. In whom also 
ye are circumcised with the circumcision made 
without hands, in putting off the body of the sins 
of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried 
with him in baptism : wherein also ye are risen 
with him through the faith of the operation of 
God, who hath raised him from the dead."f In 
this passage, we learn in the first place, that 
persons interested in the exalted Saviour, have 
a complete acceptance in him. In the next place, 
we learn that those who are so interested, have 
a complete substitute for the circumcision which 
was abolished ; — a substitute both internal and 
external : since they had internally that which 
the literal circumcision represented, and which 



* Col. ii. \% 



t Ver. 10— 



12. 



80 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. ti. 



is called " circumcision made without hands :" 
viz. the circumcision of the heart hy the power 
of grace : and they had externally the ordinance 
of baptism, called " the circumcision of Christ;" 
an ordinance appointed by Christ in the room of 
circumcision. Thirdly, we find that the external 
substitute for circumcision required of them 
conformity to Christ in whom they were com- 
plete. They were required, for instance, to part 
with sin, not merely the mutilation of a member, 
but the whole body of it, — to divest themselves 
of it, as a man puts off a vile garment, to wear 
it no more for ever : and this body of carnality 
they were required not only to crucify, but also 
to bury with Christ, who was " put to death in 
the flesh, but quickened by the spirit." As 
Christ was u delivered for our offences " to death 
and the grave, so they were " required to reckon 
themselves dead indeed unto sin." They were 
also required by their baptism, to rise with Christ 
into a life resembling his — a new, a spiritual, a 
heavenly life, into which their baptism w T as a 
significant ceremonial initiation. In the fourth 
place, these words inform us, that this new life, 
which was both signified and required by bap- 
tism, was actually entered upon by faith — 
" through the faith of the operation of God." 

§ 19- Let the candid and sound critic now 
determine, whether this passage was intended by 



sfxt, i. On Regeneration. 81 

St Paul, to convey the notion of water baptism 
communicating spiritual blessings; rather than 
significantly representing, and requiring of the 
baptized to put off the whole body of sin, to 
bury it for ever, to rise with Christ by faith, 
and to live a holy life to the glory of God. The 
apostle's design was evidently to counteract the 
Judaizing teachers, who pleaded for the import- 
ance of circumcision. In prosecution of that 
design, he shews, that they ought to part with 
that rite, because the end of it was answered. 
The ancient circumcision had an important 
meaning ; in Christians that meaning was 
accomplished, because they were virtually cir- 
cumcised, with the " circumcision not made 
with hands." The phrase " not made with hands," 
which occurs repeatedly in the New Testament^ 
always denotes the spiritual reality of something 
adumbrated : and " the circumcision of Christ," or 
what was instituted by him in the room of 
circumcision, could not, in the nature of the 
case, communicate, but only represent and 
require the renunciation and burial of the 
old man of sin, and a new life of faith in Christ 
And this faith was of " the operation of God/' 
not " the immediate effect of baptism." The 
notion of baptism communicating " a lively hope," 
has been before considered; and the same 
arguments will prove that baptism does not 
communicate u the faith of the operation of 

G 



82 



Modern Calvinism Dfeended, ch. ii. 



God," by which believers are risen with 
Christ 

§ 20. " Born again, not of corruptible seed, 
but of incorruptible." * His Lordship asserts, 
that these words relate to baptism. The leading- 
position is, that regeneration means baptism; and 
as " born again" is synonymous with " regene- 
rated," baptism must be intended. The words 
are found in connection as follows : " Seeing ye 
have purified your souls in obeying the truth 
through the spirit, unto unfeigned love of the 
brethren, see that ye love one another with a 
pure heart fervently ; being born again, not of 
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word 
of God which liveth and abideth for ever."f 
These Christians had obeyed the truth ; this 
obedience was through, or by the assistance of 
the Spirit; the effect of this obedience was the 
purification of their souls, and the love of the 
brethren, which they were called upon to 
cultivate. In order to enforce this duty more 
powerfully, they are reminded, that they were 
regenerated; and lest there should be any 
mistake respecting the kind of regeneration 
intended, they are told it was that which was 
derived from an incorruptible seed— the word 
of God. Now, is it possible for an attentive 



* 1 Pet. i. 23. 



f Ver. 22; 23. 



sect. r. On Regeneration, 83 

and impartial mind to suppose that the apostle 
meant, " born of water," or the regeneration 
of baptism? On what principle can such an 
opinion be founded ? Does it not appear with a 
noon-day plainness, that he designs that regene- 
ration which takes place on the reception of 
God's testimony; and which consists in the 
exercise of faith and love? That " new man" 
which consists in knowledge and other Christian 
graces, is formed by the union of a gracious 
principle with divine truth : the soul is regene- 
rated, properly speaking, by the Spirit, but the 
body of Christian graces requires for its forma- 
tion the word of truth, before either knowledge, 
. faith, love, hope, fear, and the like, can have 
existence : baptismal water is corruptible seed, 
but " the word of our God abideth for ever." 

§ 21. "Baptism doth now save us, by the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ."* These expres- 
sions, in their detached form, undoubtedly carry a 
semblance of proof in favour of his Lordship's in- 
terpretation ; but the words with which they 
stand connected entirely deprive him even of that 
semblance. " Once the long suffering of God 
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was 
a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, 
were saved by water. The like figure w hereunto 



* 1 Pet. ill. 21. 



84 



Modern Calvinism Defended. en. n< 



even baptism, cloth also now save us (not the 
putting away the filth of the flesh, but the 
answer of a good conscience toward God), by 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.''* It is obvious 
that St. Peter institutes a comparison between 
the unbelieving inhabitants before the deluge, 
and those who reject the gospel, on the one 
hand; and between believing Noah with his 
family, and professing Christians, on the other : 
the rejectors of God's testimony, in both cases, 
were the objects of divine displeasure ; but those 
who believed and obeyed this testimony were 
objects of the divine approbation and care : the 
water of the deluge formed a separation between 
two dispensations; and so does that of baptism. 
But, we are expressly told, that " by faith 
Noah, being warned of God of things not seen 
as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark for the 
saving of his house ; by the which he condemned 
the world, and became heir of the righteousness 
which is by faith."f He was a partaker of saving 
faith, righteousness, and true holiness, before 
he was saved by water. Consequently, his 
being preserved in the ark related only to God s 
external dispensation towards him; he was 
delivered from that calamity which divine judg- 
ment brought upon the unbelieving and disobe- 
dient, in consequence of his being " found 



* i Pet. iij. 20, 21. 



+ Heb. xi. 7. 



sect. i. On Regeneration, 85 

righteous in his generation." In like manner be- 
lieving Jews and Gentiles entered into the Chris- 
tian church (typified by the ark), that they might 
escape the righteous judgment of God which 
awaited professed unbelievers, and God sealed 
to them by baptism his new covenant. Christ's 
obedience, as our substitute, was sealed by his 
blood and death; but his testamentary grant 
of privileges and blessings to be enjoyed on 
gospel terms, is both signified and sealed by the 
institution of baptism. A seal affixed to a will 
is designed to certify that it is the real testament 
of him who seals it. 

§ Q c 2. But it is very observable, how particu- 
larly the apostle cautions us against the inference 
of water baptism effecting our salvation, as if 
aware that some might be disposed to form such 
conclusion: "Not the putting away the filth of 
the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience 
toward God." The spiritual salvation is secured^ 
to us not by the external rite, but by a con- 
scientious regard to God's covenant, of which 
that rite is the sign and seal. Not the profession 
of repentance towards God and faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ, which was expected to be made 
by the candidate, but the godly sincerity of that 
profession. A hypocrite might be admitted to 
the church, as Ham was admitted into the ark; 
but as the ark and the deluge made no one 



86 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 

partaker of spiritual salvation who was destitute 
of it before, so neither does the baptismal 
institution. In short, St. Peter seems, from 
the whole drift of his discourse, to shew the 
obligation of professing Christians to answer 
the design of their initiation into the gospel 
dispensation ; and this they were to do by 
" sanctifying the Lord God in their hearts," by 
being "ready always to give an answer to every 
man that asked them a reason of the hope that 
was in them" with meekness and reverential 
fear, and bv having "a o-ood conscience toward 
God." The " resurrection of Jesus Christ" was 
the basis both of their hope, and of their 
baptismal confession. 

§ 23. " According to his mercy he saved us 
by the washing of regeneration, and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost."* His Lordship asserts, that 
these words also relate to baptism, as an act 
essential to the character of a Christian, and of 
such importance that it is declared to be 
instrumental to our salvation. St. Paul, writing 
to Titus, observes, " w^e ourselves also were 
sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving 
divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and 
envy, hateful, and hating one another. But 
after that the kindness and love of God our 



* Tit. iii. 5. 



sect. I. On Regeneration, 87 

Saviour toward man appeared — not by works 
of righteousness which we have done, but 
according to his mercy he saved us by the 
washing of regeneration (xat), even the renewing 
of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us 
abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour: 
that being justified by his grace, we should be 
made heirs according to the hope of eternal 
life." # In this passage we observe, first, the 
deep depravity of mankind, Paul and Timothy 
not excepted, before their conversion to Chris- 
tianity ; secondly, that the remedy for so great 
an evil was provided by the loving kindness of 
God our Saviour, to the exclusion of all human 
works; thirdly, that we are saved, or ma\le 
personally partakers of new covenant blessings, 
according to the mercy of God, — not only the 
preparation being made by divine love, and 
announced in the gospel, but also the application 
of the remedy being effected by the merciful 
act of God ; fourthly, that the change itself 
produced is compared to the washing of a 
new-born infant; lastly, that the cleansing 
which belongs to, and is performed upon one 
" born again," is the renewal of the soul by the 
Holy Ghost. The washing with water belongs 
to the natural birth, the renewing of the Holy 
Ghost belongs to the spiritual birth; and this is 

* Tit. iii. 3—7. 



88 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. 11. 



allusively expressed " the washing of rege- 
neration." 

§ 24. So far is this text from countenancing 
the notion of baptism being called "regeneration," 
and of its being ' instrumental to our salvation/ 
that there does not appear, on fair examination, 
even an allusion to baptism. It is well known 
that the conjunction (xai) is often used 
exegetically for even, or namely ; and the nature 
of the subject requires it to be so taken in this 
connection: since, as I have already shewn, we 
cannot admit, without affronting the general 
tenor of Scripture, that God, according to his 
mercy, saves us by baptism — or that an external 
rite is an essential part of our salvation — or that 
the spiritual renovation is an immediate effect 
of it. And supposing the apostle meant to 
express baptism by the periphrasis " the washing 
of regeneration," how much more natural the 
idea, that he designed the thing signified rather 
than the sign itself; — for the mercy of God, 
according to which we are saved, is manifested 
incomparably more by the former than by the 
latter. Thus, whether the term (xai) be used 
in a connective or an explanatory way, it does 
not follow that baptism is instrumental to our 
salvation. For, if " regeneration" be taken for 
" being born of God," or "born of the Spirit," or 
a born from above," the P renewing of the Holy 



sect. I. On Regeneration. 89 

Ghost," may well express progressive sancti- 
fying influence. 

§ 25. Once more, we are told by his 
Lordship, that the following words declare 
baptism to be ' instrumental to our salvation.' 
" Except a man be born again, he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." # Supposing " the kingdom 
of God" to mean the ^visible Christian church, 
we admit that no one can, according to the 
appointed rule, enter into it without being 
" born of water," or baptized : but if we 
understand by it the heavenly state, or future 
happiness in another world, is it probable, is it 
conceivable, that our Lord should mean, that 
no one can see it without baptism? Is it more 
probable, or even more conceivable, than the 
sentiment, that no one has spiritual life except 
he literally " eat the flesh, and drink the blood 
of the Son of man?" And yet men of great 
name have espoused this last mentioned tenet. 
If, however, the phrase " born again," be under- 
stood to signify a spiritual change, no difficulty 
remains ; as it is at once rational, and perfectly 
conformable to other inspired declarations. 
" Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." 
" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
#ee God." " If any man have not the spirit of 



* John iii. 3. 



90 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



Christ he is none of his." Beside, Nicoclemus 
needed not to be told, that the baptismal 
purification was an ordinance of initiation into 
the Christian community ; that being* a matter of 
public notoriety, and a subject of conversation 
among the Jews : but there was great need of 
his being informed, that this alone was not 
sufficient; that a man must be also " born 
again/' or " from above f " born of the Spirit." 

§ 2.6. We concur with his Lordship when- 
he states, that Christians have 6 a double birth, 
i namely, a natural birth from Adam, and a 
6 spiritual birth from Christ. There cannot be 
4 two natural births, neither can there be two 
6 spiritual births. There cannot be two first 
c entrances into a natural life, neither can there 
* be two first entrances into a spiritual life. 
4 There cannot be a second baptism, or a second 
' regeneration. ,# And we cordially agree with 
Bishop Pearson, to whose words Bishop 
Tom line alludes, when he says, "A double 
birth there is, and the world consists of two, 
the first and the second man. And though the 
incorruptible seed be the word of God, and the 
dispensers of it in some sense may say, as St. 
Paul spake unto the Corinthians, ' I have 
begotten you through the gospel yet he is 



* Rtfut p. 85. 



sect. i. On Regeneration, 91 

the true Father, whose word it is, and that is 
God, even * the Father of light, who of his 
own will hegat us with the word of truth.' 
Thus 'whosoever believeth that Jesus is the 
Christ, is born of God;' which regeneration is 
as it were a second creation : ' for we are God's 
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works.' And he alone who did create us 
out of nothing, can beget us again, and make 
us of the new creation. — Hence hath he the 
name of Father, and they of sons who are 1 bora 
of him ; and so from that internal act of 
spiritual regeneration another title of paternity 
redoundeth unto the divinity. Nor is this the 
only second birth or sole regeneration in a 
Christian sense ; the soul, which after its natural 
being requires a birth into the life of grace, is 
also after that born again into a life of glory. 
Our Saviour puts us in mind of the regeneration, 
* when the Son of man shall sit in the throne 
of his glory.' The resurrection of our bodies 
is a kind of coming out of the womb of the 
earth, and entering upon immortality, a nativity 
into another life."* 5 

§ 27. To be " born of God" is a second 
birth, and a second birth is surely regeneration : 
But " he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, 



* Pearson on the Creed, Art. i. p. 27. 4th ec|. 



9^ Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 

is born of God;" and therefore is regenerated, 
according to the plain testimony of scripture. 
Now according to the same testimony, adult 
converts were required to believe that Jesus is 
the Christ before they were baptized ; and the 
apostles consequently baptized them as regene- 
rated persons ; for, as believers, they were born 
of God. This is a plain fact, that appears on 
the face of the Christian history, and pervades 
the whole spirit, and design of the Christian 
dispensation ; and with this before him, let the 
impartial enquirer determine, whether \ the 
' word regeneration is in scripture solely and 
' exclusively applied to the one immediate effect 
' °f baptism once administered.' 

§ 28. As the Holy Scriptures, in the rational 
estimation of Protestants, are the rule of faith 
and practice, to the exclusion of the decisions 
of ecclesiastical councils and fathers, and as we 
have the sacred text in at least equal purity 
with what the church had in their days, it is 
of little moment to us how they interpreted the 
text. They were as liable to err as those who 
succeed them; they had the same source of 
fallibility, and in many respects their advantages 
were inferior to our own. It may be worth 
while, however, briefly to examine whether this 
assertion be perfectly correct, viz. — That the 
ancient Christians ( never use the word regenerate 



sect. On Regeneration, 9^ 

£ or born again, but that they mean or denote 
e by it baptism :' and, in other words, that ' re- 
4 generation in the language of the Fathers 
( constantly signifies the participation of the 
* sacrament of baptism.' 

§ 29. Clemens, of Alexandria, speaking of 
a woman of suspicious virtue, and alluding to 
the words of • scripture " she that liveth in 
pleasure is dead while she liveth," observes, that 
"she lives indeed in sin, but is dead to the 
divine commands: but becoming penitent, as 
if bom again by conversion, she has the regene- 
ration of life. The old offender indeed is dead, 
but she who has a birth by repentance has 
entered into life again."* Eusebius applies the 
term regeneration to the renovation of the world 
at the last day:"f and Basil, the Great, em- 
ploys it in the same way, when, in reference to 
the Stoics, he observes, that they introduce an 
unlimited number of corruptions and renovations 
(or regenerations) of the world." J St. Augustine, 
alluding to Matt. xix. 28, (ev ty} irct7uyyeue<r!oi) 
in the regeneration, remarks, that our Lord 

* avayevv>)0e<cra vaXiyysvs<rloiv xaTot [ASTotvoiav y£Vvr}Qet<rric. 
Clem. Alex. Strom, lib. ii. 

f rcov ohoov naXiyysvetnixv, Euseb. Prepar. Eraog. lib, 
xv. cap. 11. 

+ oumpov$ $kgot$ xo'er/tou xa< nxXiyyevwictg. Basil. Mag, 
Hem. iii. in Hexaem. 



94 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. it. 



intends, doubtless, in this place, by regeneration, 
the final resurrection ;" # and we find expressions 
to the same purpose in different parts of his 
works. The word regeneration is employed in 
a similar manner by Origen, Jerome, and 
Bernard. Theophylact, explaining* our Lord's 
expression, Matt. xix. says expressly, " under- 
stand by regeneration, the resurrection,''! And 
Theophanes, paraphrasing the same words, 
says, " Ye shall be rewarded in the general re- 
surrection; which he called regeneration, as it 
begets us anew, and restores us into our pristine 
state.";}; The same writer again observes else- 
where, that the " resurrection is a restoration to 
our primitive state, which we expect to obtain 
in the regeneration, by the favour of him who 
has renewed us by himself, and has endowed 
our nature with incorruption."|| Thus also 
Dionysius, the Areopagite, discoursing on the 
future perfect state of the saints, remarks, that 
" holy souls, which in the present state are 
liable to failures, shall in the regeneration be 
transformed to a state of immutability and of 

* Regeneratione hoc loco, ambigenfe nullo, noyisimam 
resurrectionem vocat. Aug. Ep. ad Pelag. lib. ill . cap. 3. 

•f HoLkiyyevsviuv, t^v avacrroi<Tty vosi. Theop. in Matt. xix. 

J >jy TrtxXiyysvsvluv sxaA=3sV, oo; uvQig xvctysvuxrtxv ripotc* 
Theoph, Horn. xli. 

Horn, xxxiv 



sect. t. On Regeneration. 95 

complete conformity to God."* Epiphanius^ 
speaking of the supreme artificer, in allusion to 
prophetic language, under the character of a 
potter, observes, that " it behoved him to take 
care of the vessel formed by his own hand; 
and though, on account of its being vitiated 
through disobedience, it was meet to turn it 
into its original mass of clay, yet in the regene- 
ration, he should restore the vessel, by a resur- 
rection, to its ancient brightness and beauty ."f 
Basil, of Ciesarea, speaking of scornful phi- 
losophers, says, " they laugh at us inordinately 
when we tell them of the end of this world 
and the regeneration of Ufe"% or a future period 
of existence. Athanasius : " In the regene- 
ration we shall all rise as one man."|| Isidore 
of Pelusium observes, " I could shew from all 
the sacred writings that the affairs of the Jews 
are brought to an end, and shall have no 
regeneratiojir^ 

* Ev Trj 7rxXiyyzV=o-t<i. Dionys. Arcop. de Hier. EccL 
cap. vii. 

+ Ivtx cw$t$ sv TYj 7ru\iyyeve<rix uvccv)isvu<rr) to ctyyo$ ev tig 
-tvoLvrourei. Epiph. Ileres. xxxvii. 

X Ilsgi (rvvTsXsiag tou hov^ou tovtov xcti iratfayysvwws 
Acjcovoj. Basil. Caesar. Horn. i. in Hexaem. 

|] Ev Tri votktyysvsiriot oo$ u$ ctvQpooTro; cvnawn Athast„ 
Quest, xxiv. ad Antioch. 

f KoLi 7r«Ajyysvs<7<av cv% e%u. Isid. Pel us. lib* fa 
epist, 17. 



96 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



§ 30. That the term (TroLhiyysv strict) regenera- 
tion is often used by the Greek Fathers, in a 
figurative sense, for baptism, is undeniable ; but 
the preceding quotations are sufficient to shew 
what reliance is to be placed upon the asser- 
tions; That 6 the word regeneration is in 

* scripture solely and exclusively applied to the 

* one immediate effect of baptism once adminis- 

* tered ' — c regeneration, as often as 'tis used in 
1 the scripture books, signifies the baptismal rege- 
' neration' — regeneration in the language of 
6 the Fathers constantly signifies the participation 

* of the sacrament of baptism.' The Greek 
Fathers use another term (aDaylvvTjer^) which 
literally answers to regeneration in the same 
way as the former, viz. to express, figuratively, 
the ordinance of baptism, — but not ' solely and 
exclusively.' Thus Gregory Nazianzen, in 
allusion to the Holy Spirit, says, that " he 
effects the spiritual regeneration"* St. Chry- 
sostom assigns the reason why the term rege- 
neration is applied to baptism. " Because 
baptism is said to be a sign of death and resur- 
rection, therefore it is called regeneration, "f 
Cyril, of Jerusalem, speaking of Christ's 

* JyjfAtovgyei rev 7rv£u/xaTi>ojv avoiyevvvi<riv. Greg. Naz, 
Orat. xliv. 

+ Eirsi xoli QavctTOV xai olvouttccvsws C Jjji(SoXov Xsyerca 
stvou to /3a7rTi(7|xc< ; Sid xou avuywqus xaAeira/. Chrysost. 
in Job. iii. 



sect. I. On Regeneration* 97 

resurrection and ascension, says, " On the fortieth 
day after his regeneration from the dead, he 
ascended to the Jerusalem above."* 

§ 31. On the whole, it appears abundantly 
evident^ that the term Regeneration is used by 
the inspired and ecclesiastical writers, to express 
any great change, whether mental or corporeal, 
physical or supernatural, where any resemblance 
is discovered between that change and a birth : 
and as baptism is a sign of entering out of the 
world into the church, and out of a sinful into 
a holy state, it became customary to express 
that great change by regeneration. But surely 
a gracious change from a death in sin to a life 
in righteousness is great, whether it take place 
on believing before baptism, or after : and for 
calling such a change regeneration, the Calvinists 
have sufficient reason, not only on the ground 
of scripture usage, but also that of the Fathers. 
The frequent use of it, too, in reference to 
baptism, being calculated to convey false notions 
of a positive institute, they are fully justified in 
using it very sparingly in that connection, but 
more emphatically to express a spiritual change, 
as a change of infinitely greater moment ; 

* Mstoc TSvectpoLxoyTU *3ft£p«£ Tys ex vsxpcov uvuyevvY)<rsoo$ 
gig t>jv otvcti hpoudaX^ otvzXr\Kvh. Cyril. Jeros. Orat. de 
Simone. Biblioth. Patrum, torn. xiii. 

H 



98 



Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. ii. 



esepcially considering the proneness of mankind 
to content themselves with a form of godliness, 
while denying the power. If at any time, again, 
it be taken, in popular language, for conversion, 
this also, it must be admitted, is a great change, 
resembling a birth. And is it not of incom- 
parably greater moment, to convince men that 
without repentance, faith, and conversion, they 
cannot see the kingdom of God, than to con- 
vince them that without baptism they cannot be 
saved? Why should so much earnestness be 
used in urging a matter of such easy acquisi- 
tion, nay, in urging the importance of what is 
already performed upon millions who are never- 
theless " in the gall of bitterness and the bonds 
of iniquity?" In theological discussions the 
Calvinists sufficiently distinguish between the 
two great changes, regeneration, and conversion ; 
and even if in popular addresses they were occa- 
sionally to confound them, a little inaccuracy 
in the rigid use of terms may surely be over- 
looked, where earnestness, zeal, and benevolent 
exertions, are employed in promoting the ever- 
lasting welfare of mankind. 



SECT. IT. 



On J ustificatian. 



99 



Sect. II. 

The Bishop's avowed Sentiments on J ustification, 
examined, 

^ I. Importance of the doctrine. 

4 2. His Lordship's view of Justification stated. § 3, 4, That it is 
conveyed by baptism examined. § 5. The Church of England 
supposes candidates for baptism to be in a justified state. 
§ 6. The Eleventh Article and Homily on Justification, against 
the Bishop. 

\ 7. Justifying faith productive of good works. § 8. These justify 
our faith, as evidence. § 9 — 11. St. Paul's doctrine of Justifi- 
cation. § 12 — 14. Also St. James's. 

^ 15 — 19. That Justification is lost and recovered successively, ex- 
amined. § 20—22. The true ground of the imputation of righte- 
ousness, § 23 — 25. What the condition of continuance in 
Justification. \ 26. The difference between the Justification of 
a person, and that of his actions. 

§ 1. The doctrine of a sinner's justification 
before God, in the character of a holy and 
righteous judge, is of importance to men, in 
proportion as the knowledge of the way to 
happiness is conducive to its enjoyment : and 
to an intelligent being, who is required to 
" seek the Lord while he may be found" — to 
u come before the Lord" with a suitable 
offering — and to " work out his own salvation 
with fear and trembling" — it is, beyond all 
question, of the greatest moment to know the 
divinely appointed method of pardon and 
acceptance. Accordingly w r e find, that when 
any remarkable revival of real religion has 



100 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



taken place in the Christian church, from its 
foundation to the present time, the minds of 
men have been powerfully impressed with the 
importance of this doctrine. It is a clear fact, 
that every extensive reformation has given it 
peculiar prominence, and that those who have 
opposed the work in a mass, have directed 
much of their opposition against the doctrine of 
justification by faith. Not to mention other 
instances, those of Paul and his inspired 
associates, and of Luther, with his ablest 
coadjutors in the reformation, are striking 
examples. St. Paul directs the full force of his 
holy reasoning and eloquence to establish the 
point of justification by grace, through faith, 
to the exclusion of every thing else, though 
careful to inculcate the necessity of good works 
and holy obedience on another ground: and 
Luther, who had entered far into the views 
and experience of the apostle, dwelt much on 
justification by faith to the exclusion of works, 
both from the pulpit and the press. As the 
former, again, was virulently opposed by the 
Jewish advocates for good works, so was the 
latter by the Popish hierarchy, who pretended 
great concern for the cause of religion and the 
purity of the Catholic faith. In a word, it was 
not without reason that Luther, speaking on 
the point of justification, termed it, Articulus 
stantis vel cackntis Ecclesia, a doctrine inti- 



sect. ii. On Justification. 101 « 

mately connected with either the welfare or the 
ruin of the Christian church. 

§ 2. The Bishop of Lincoln has published 
his views of this Christian doctrine in a manner 
sufficiently explicit, and I shall give him credit 
for not being displeased with a candid exami- 
nation of those views. His Lordship maintains, 
that baptism conveys justification — that faith 
without good works will not justify — that 
simply to profess faith in the Trinity, and to 
promise future obedience, is sufficient for 
justification. His assertions, on the first of these 
points, are ' Baptism, administered according 
* to the appointed form to a true believer, would 
6 convey justification ; or, in other words, the 
' baptized person would receive remission of 
£ his past sins, would be reconciled to God, and 
■ be accounted just and righteous in his sight. 
' Baptism would not only wash away the guilt 
i of all his former sins, both original and actual, 
( and procure to him acceptance with God, but 
! it would also communicate a portion of divine 
c grace, to counteract the depravity of his 
' nature, and to strengthen his good resolutions. 
c Baptism was invariably the instrument, or 
' external form, by which justification was 
1 conveyed?* ' It is the doctrine of our churchy 



* Refut. pp. 132, 133. 



102 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. n. 

e that baptism duly administered confers justifi- 
' cation.'* 

§ 3. The sentiment that baptism washes 
away the guilt of sin, and communicates grace, 
has been examined before. We have now to 
consider its efficacy to convey justification. 
The expression itself is remarkable, £ would 
' convey justification,' Elsewhere his Lordship 
very properly observes, ' Justification is a 
' forensic term — to be justified before God, 
' signifies to be declared and accounted as just 
' and righteous in his sight.'f Justification then 
is an act or declaration of God respecting a 
person; for, as St. Paul observes, "It is God 
that justifieth." To baptize is an act of man ; 
but how the act of man can convey a future act 
of God, it is difficult to conceive. The prophets 
and apostles - conveyed' to the people, as a matter 
of testimony, what God hc.d done, or was 
about to do; but when they performed miracles, 
or when miraculous effects followed certain acts 
or declarations of theirs, there would be, I 
conceive, no propriety in saying that the 
appointed sign conveyed the effect. Even 
supposing baptism were invariably followed by 
justification as a consequent, it would be an. 
erroneous mode of expression to say, that the 



* Refut. p. 147. 



+ Ibid. p. 98. 



s ecT .11. On Justification. 1 03 

former conveyed the latter. And if it be said, 
that not the act of God is conveyed, but the 
privilege resulting from that act; then it is 
not justification itself, according to his Lordship's 
own definition of it, but some other idea to which 
the term is vaguely applied. This, however^ is 
of small moment compared with the sentiment 
here controverted. 

§ 4. His Lordship requires, that baptism be 
1 administered according to the appointed form/ 
Here it is but an act of justice, not to say 
liberality, to suppose, that ' the appointed form 5 
refers not to human but divine legislation ; not 
to any " form" drawn up and enjoined by men, 
but to that which is contained in the New 
Testament. It would be reflecting unmerited 
reproach on his Lordship's character, to suppose 
he insinuates, that none can administer baptism 
according to the form appointed in the New 
Testament, but those who administer it accord- 
ing to the form contained in the book of 
Common Prayer. Let it however be in any 
" form" his Lordship pleases. It is of greater 
moment, in the present argument, that he 
supposes the adult candidate for baptism to be 
e a true believer a requisition, which, of course, 
excludes all hypocritical pretenders from a 
participation of spiritual blessings communicated 
by the ordinance. Let us now, with his 



104 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ill 

Lordship, c suppose a person to have been 
i educated as a Jew or a Heathen, and suppose 
4 him, which was the case of every Jew and of 
' every Heathen, to have been guilty of a 
c variety of sins ; and suppose him, by attending 
1 to the evidences of the truth of the gospel, to 
6 have been convinced that Jesus was the 
' Messiah, the promised Saviour of the world ; 
1 such a person could not but feel contrition 
' for the wickedness of his past life, and be 
' anxious to avoid the punishment to which he 
' was liable.'* It is not our province to say, 
here he must stop, until he is baptized. No; 
many, very many, among ' Jews and Heathens/ 
upon hearing revealed truth, have gone much 
further. There are many Christians who regard 
the baptism of infants as unscriptural, and of 
course their children grow up under Christian 
instruction, and attend the public ministry of 
the word, while unbaptized. We may then 
suppose what fact has often verified, that an 
unbaptized hearer of the gospel is brought to 
feel deep contrition, on account of his sins; 
to be truly penitent, so as to hate all sin; 
sincerely to deny himself, to take up his cross, 
to " pluck out the right eye, and cut off the 
right hand" that offend ; to believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ as the only and all-sufficient 



*Refut. p. 132. 



sect. n. On Justification. 105 

Saviour; to trust in him for salvation, as the 
prophet, priest, and king of his church ; to 
believe with the heart unto righteousness ; and 
to confess with the mouth unto salvation; to 
obey from the heart the heavenly call, and to 
resolve, by the assistance of divine grace, to 
render unreserved obedience to what Gods 
word requires. We suppose this person not yet 
baptized, but only a candidate for baptism. He 
is not yet " born of water," — but is he therefore 
not " born of the Spirit?" In the face of so 
much evidence, so many merciful declarations, 
that God will pardon the penitent, accept the 
returning sinner, justify him that believeth in 
Jesus, — who shall affirm, that this man lies in 
the pollution of sin, and under the load of 
guilt; that he is not accepted, but condemned, 
though he has fled for refuge to lay hold on the 
hope set before him ; and that he is in this 
dreadful situation because he is not baptized, 
though made willing in the day of Gods 
power to submit to every ordinance of divine 
appointment ! One might think it impossible, 
not to say for a Christian divine, but for 
any one reading the scriptures, unattended 
with corrupt glosses, with a sincere desire 
to be rightly informed, to harbour any such 
thought. 

§ 5. It is farther asserted by his Lordship, 



4 



106 



Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. ti. 



that ' it is the doctrine of our church, that 
* baptism duly administered confers j usl ideation.' 
I hope this assertion is made through inad- 
vertence, for the credit of the church by law 
established. Were this clearly proved, it would 
be a strong argument with all unprejudiced men 
to leave its communion. Any church whatever 
advancing an opinion so contrary to scripture, 
to piety, and the plain dictates of reason, would 
prove itself corrupt in no small degree : and with 
regard to the church of England I would beg 
leave to say, that in proportion as it approaches 
to the sentiment ascribed to it* so will be the 
evidence that it is but partially reformed from 
the superstitions of dark ages. In the Church 
Catechism, in reply to the question, " What 
is required of persons to be baptized r ,T it is said, 
" Repentance, whereby they forsake sin, and 
faith, whereby they steadfastly believe the pro- 
mises of God made to them in that sacrament."' 
Are not the persons who really pos ess these 
qualifications, pardoned as penitent, and justified 
as believers, before they are baptized? In one 
of the Homilies, entitled " Of good works an- 
nexed unto Faith," a quotation from Chrysostom 
is introduced : " I can shew a man that by faith 
without works lived, and came to heaven ; but 
without faith never man had life. The thief, 
that was hanged when Christ suffered, did 
believe only, and the most merciful God justified 



sect. ii. On Justification, 10/ 

him." Had he lived to receive baptism, would 
his justification have been deferred, until that 
rite " conferred" it? Or, if baptism, be the 
the appointed mode of " conveying" or " con- 
firming" justification, what right have those who 
hold that sentiment to conclude that this person 
was justified? If it be said, that he gave suffi- 
cient evidence of repentance and faith ; so do 
thousands of converts, in like manner, before they 
are admitted into the visible and explicit com- 
munion of Christians by baptism. What is 
done prior to that transaction, certainly cannot 
be the*" effect of it. 

§ 6\ " Faith without good works will not 
justify." This is his Lordship's avowed senti- 
ment, and these are his words: £ Neither in our 
6 articles, nor in our liturgy, is it said, that faith 
' without Good Works will justify.'* ' Let it be 
' remarked, that whenever St. Paul, in speaking 
1 of Justification, uses the words Works or Deeds 
■ he invariably adds of the law;' 'lie frequently 
' says, a man is not justified by the works of the 
• law, but not once does he say, a -man is not 
? justified by works.'f It is of little moment 
what the articles and the liturgy say, any further 
than they are consistent with scripture and the 
analogy of divine dispensations. And as the 



* Refut. p. 155. 



+ Ibid. p. 120. 



108 Modejin Calvinism Defended. ch. n. 



compilers were men of like passions with our- 
selves, however learned, or pious, or desirous of 
stating the real truth, their successors have an 
equal right to bring their statements to the 
test, as they had respecting those of their pre- 
decessors. It is, however, expressly stated in 
the eleventh article, " We are justified only for 
the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
by faith, without our own works or deservings." 
The article cannot mean our bad works, which 
would be absurd ; and as all our works are either 
good or bad, the meaning must be without our 
own good works. In the liturgy it is said, that 
God " pardoneth and absolveth all them that 
truly repent, and unfeignedly believe in his holy 
gospel." Now as God never pardoneth and 
absolveth any who are not at the same time 
justified, it is clear, that true repentance and 
unfeigned faith, without good works, in the 
estimation of the church, justify. The Homily 
on Justification, to which the elventh article 
refers, observes, " The true understanding of 
this doctrine, we be justified freely by faith 
without works, or that we be justified by faith 
in Christ only, is not, that this our own act to 
believe in Christ, or this our faith in Christ, 
which is within us, doth justify us, and deserve 
our justification unto us — we must renounce the 
merit of all virtues and good deeds, which 
we either have done, shall do, or can do, as 



sect* II. On Justification. 109 

things that be far too weak, and insufficient, 
and imperfect, to deserve remission of our sins, 
and our justification : and therefore we must 
trust only in God's mercy, and that sacrifice 
• which our High Priest and Saviour Christ Jesus, 
the Son of God, once offered for us upon the 
cross, to obtain thereby God's grace and remis- 
sion."' — Here two things are maintained; first, 
that the converted sinner is justified by faith in 
Christ wily, or freely by faith without works, 
and consequently good works; for no one ever 
supposed that bad works can justify; and, 
secondly, that faith itself, as well as all virtues 
and good deeds, are renounced in point of merit 
for justification. 

§ 7. Let the reader now reflect what reliance, 
on Jit to be placed upon this assertion: ' Neither 
( in our articles, nor in our liturgy, is it said, that 
' faith without good works will justify. 5 That 
the expressions of " Faith only," and " Faith 
without works" were not intended to exclude 
the necessity of Works for other purposes, we 
freely allow ; but if words have any meaning, 
they were intended to exclude them, however 
good, in the point of Justification. We also 
maintain, that a true and lively faith is produc- 
tive of good works, as a good tree bringeth 
forth good fruit ; and that its character may be 
best known to us by its effects; but surely, as 



110 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



CH, II. 



a cause is distinct from its effects, as a good 
tree differs from its fruits, and a principle in the 
mind from its operations, so a good faith is a 
different thing from good works, and therefore 
should neither be identified nor confounded. But 
though Calvinists avoid this, they are in the 
constant habit of insisting, that a fruitless faith 
is not saving. They urge the importance of 
good works on several accounts ; for they know 
that God requires universal obedience — that 
they are well pleasing to God — that Christians 
are justified and renewed, in order that they 
may walk in them unto all pleasing — that they 
are profitable unto men — that Christ is the 
author of eternal salvation to them that obey 
him — and that they are bound, in duty and in 
gratitude, to observe all things whatsoever 
Christ has commanded. They reprobate with 
warmth a dead faith, and inculcate with 
earnestness " charity, and all other virtues and 
good deeds," as indispensable towards forming 
the Christian character. 

§ 8. That good works justify the goodness 
of faith, and of the Christian character, by way 
of evidence to ourselves and others, is not 
denied ; as good fruit is an evidence of a good 
tree. " By their fruits ye shall know them " A 
true Christian is ingrafted into Christ, in a 
higher and far more important sense than by 



sect. ii. On Justification, 111 

baptism, or an outward profession. By faith 
they abide in him the true vine; and thence 
they derive their sap and fruitfulness. They 
are taught by experience, as well as by scrip- 
ture, that except they abide in Christ by faith, 
they cannot glorify God by bringing forth 
much fruit ; yea, that they " can do nothing,"— 
nothing that deserves the name of Christian 
obedience, or acceptable service. .They know 
that * without faith, it is impossible to please 
God," as well as that the faith which is dead 
and not productive of holy obedience is un- 
available both for salvation hereafter and 
for justification in this life. Calvinists are 
persuaded that we should be careful and 
.strenuous to maintain good works, and to 
discharge all personal and relative duties ; that 
no sin should have dominion over us, and that 
we should have no fellowship with the un- 
fruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove 
them. They seek for glory, and honour, and 
immortality, by patient continuance in well- 
doing. 

'§ 9- Not once does Paul say, ' a man is not 
* justified by works.' His Lordship takes it for 
granted that whenever the apostle mentions the 
Works or Deeds " of the law," in speaking of 
justification, he means the ceremonial works of 



112 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. II. 



the law.* But why should this be supposed, 
since he uses the same expression, when the 
ceremonial law cannot be meant ? For of the 
Gentiles he says, " Which shew the work of the 
law Avritten in their faearts."f Beside, was not 
the moral law included in the Mosaic? And 
was it not the Mosaic law, consisting of moral 
and ceremonial precepts, the works of which 
are excluded from justification? Would St. 
Paul's reasoning have been fairly answered by a 
Jew pleading, that he did not expect to be 
justified by the works of the ceremonial, but of 
the moral law? that he devoutly worshipped 
the true God, observed every moral precept, 
and performed his duty to God and man? 
Would not St. Paul have replied, " You are 
still under a mistake ; this is not God's way of 
justifying and saving sinners. It is not by 
" works of righteousness which we have done," 
whether ceremonial or moral, that he saves, 
much less justifies us, but by his grace." It is 
not merely the merit of works — the works of 
any law, whether of nature or of revelation, whe- 
ther ceremonial or moral — that the apostle in 
his reasonings rejects, but also the performance 
of such works, #s requisite for justification. A 
cordial reception of Jesus Christ as the end, the 



* ttefut. p. 120, + Rom ii. 15. 



SECT. II. 



On Justification* 



113 



consummation of the law of Moses, for righte- 
ousness to every one that believeth, however 
deficient his own works of righteousness have 
been, entitles the returning offender to justiflca!- 
tion of life, by a merciful appointment. 

§ 10. His Lordship has hazarded the asser- 
tion too hastily, when he says that whenever 
St. Paul, speaking of justification, 6 uses the 
■ words Works or Deeds, he invariably adds 
4 of the law. 9 For thus the apostle reasons : 
" If Abraham were justified by works, he hath 
whereof to glory, but not before God." — " To 
him that zvorketh not, but believeth on him that 
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
righteousness. Even as David also describeth 
the blessedness of the man unto whom God 
imputeth righteousness without works."* And 
what he says of salvation is a fortiori applicable 
to justification. " For by grace are ye saved, 
through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is 
the gift of God: not of works, lest any man 
should boast. For we are his workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which 
God hath before ordained that we should walk 
in them."f " Who hath saved us (in which 
justified is necessarily included) and called us 
with a holy calling, not according to our works, 

* Rom. ir. % 5, 6. -f Eph. ii e 8—10, 



114 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. 11. 



but according to his own purpose and grace, 
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the 
world began."* " Not by works of righteousness, 
which we have done, but according to his mercy 
he saved us."f From these and similar pas- 
sages, what can be more evident than the 
apostle s design to exclude not only the merits 
of our works, but also our works themselves, 
good works, works of righteousness, from having 
any part in our justification? 

§ 11. That the apostle does not confine his 
meaning to the ceremonial law, when he ex- 
cludes the works or deeds " of the law" from 
having any share in justification, or primary ac- 
ceptance into the divine favour, is manifest by 
comparing one part of his discourse with another. 
" By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh 
be justified in his sight : for by the law is the 
knowledge of sin. M J His argument necessarily 
requires that the term " law" be. used in the 
same sense in both the propositions. Now will 
any one suppose that in the latter proposition 
he means, By the ceremonial law is the know- 
ledge of sin? Does he not evidently mean the 
same law to which St. John refers when he says, 
Ci Sin is the transgression of the law T — and no 
one surely will pretend that St. John means the 



* % Tim. 9. 



t Tit iff. 5. 



| Rom. iii. 20, 



sect, ilk On Justification* 115 

ceremonial law. St. Paul himself says, " The 
law worketh wrath : for where no law is, there 
is no transgression."* " What shall we say 
then, Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had 
not known sin, but by the law : for I had not 
known lust (or concupiscence) except the law 
had said, Thou shall not covet. "f From these 
passages, among many others, it is obvious, 
first, that the law by which is the knowledge of 
sin, is the moral rather than the ceremonial, 
though a breach of the latter, while in force, 
was also sinful : secondly, that no one is justified 
by the deeds of this law, or ever shall be, — not 
by that law which is holy, just, and good, — not 
by that law which is spiritual, and in which the 
renewed soul delights, which with his heart he 
serves, and to which the carnal mmd is not 
subject. Again, the apostle observes, " If there 
had been a law given which could have given 
life (i. e. a title to life, or justification,) verily 
righteousness would have been by the lav/. But 
the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that 
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be 
given to them that believe.''^ Here, decidedly, 
every law whatever, and therefore the works or 
deeds of every law, are excluded from the 
possibility of giving to fallen man a life of ac- 
ceptance with God in the point of justification, 



* Rom. iv. 15. f Rom. vii. 7. + Gal, iii. 21. 22, 



116 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. it. 

§ 12. The apostle James had to do with 
those who abused the doctrine of justification 
by faith without works. And this abuse con- 
sisted, like most other abuses, in drawing false 
inferences from important truths. If obedience 
to law, if works of righteousness, be not neces- 
sary to justification, but faith only; then how 
are they necessary at all? If our doings will 
not justify us, we may content ourselves with 
being believers without being doers. Nay, 
says the apostle, this is a false and pernicious 
inference ; " But be ye doers of the word, and 
not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."* 
" What doth it profit, my brethren, though a 
man say he hath faith, and have not works? 
can faith save him? — Faith, if it hath not 
works, is dead, being alone.^'t Their plea that 
they had faith, was no better than the plea of a 
barren fig-tree, that it was of a good quality, 
and therefore should not be cut down as a 
cumberer of the ground, though year after year 
it produced no good fruit. Their inference was 
as irrational as if they had said, we did not 
obtain our natural life by eating and drinking, 
therefore to partake of food is not necessary to 
preserve life. Far different was the conduct of 
Abraham, after enjoying the peculiar favour of 
being accepted through faith. He went on to 



f Jam. i. 22. 



4- Jam. ii. 14, 17. 



iect.it. On Justification, 117 

perform such works as God required of him, 
and for this his renown is in the church. " Was 
not Abraham our father justified (i. e. approved ) 
by works, (by acts of obedience to the divine 
mandate) when he had offered Isaac his son upon 
the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought (a-uitepysi, 
co-operates ) with his works, and by works was 
faith made perfect?" That is, (sreXs/co^) made 
complete, by attaining its appropriate end, as a 
good tree by the fruit it bears. The good fruit 
is the completed end of its good quality. The 
tree is previously good; but that goodness is 
crowned, and the evidence of it is perfected, 
by the fruit appearing. " Arid the scripture 
was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed 
God, and it was imputed unto him for 
righteousness: (i. e. a righteous act, deserving 
commendation), and he was called the friend of 
God."* How convincing is this argument 
against those " filthy dreamers" who infested 
the church even in the apostolic age, and more 
or less ever since, and who held that the 
" obedience of faith," and 6i works of righteous- 
ness," were needless, if they could but " say 25 
they had faith. 

§ 13. St. James's inference, from the above 
statement, deserves particular notice. " Ye see 



* Jam. ii. 21—23. 



1.18 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 

then how that by works a man is justified, 
(i. e. approved, so as to be commended by the 
righteous judge), and not by faith only." That 
is, it was not the faith of Abraham only, that 
formed his righteous character, on account of 
which he had the approbation of God and 
commendation from the church, but his works 
also, his works of faith and holy obedience, 
And this is applicable to every man professing 
faith in Christ. To boast of justification by 
faith, when we cannot " shew our faith by our 
works," is ruinous presumption. The solifidians 
whom St. James attacks with holy zeal and 
force of argument, boasted probably, that Rahab 
had no works to shew, but was justified by faith 
only, and therefore needed no further care, 
" Was not Rahab the harlot justified (i. e. ap- 
proved) by works (commendable deeds, as the 
effects of her faith), when she had received the 
messengers (of God), and had sent them out 
another way T Was not her faith operative, — 
were not these acts the fruit of her belief in 
the God of Israel, and well pleasing and ac- 
ceptable in his estimation? Go ye, and do 
likewise, instead of boasting of a false gift. 
" For as the body without the spirit (or breath) 
is dead, so faith without works (such obedience 
as God requires) is dead also,"* While you 



* Jam. ii. 24—26. 



sect. ii. On Justification. 119 

discard those things which Christ has com- 
manded, and which God's holy law requires 
from every rational being, you have but the 
" dead body" of faith. What have you to do with 
peace, or a justifying righteousness? You have 
neither lot nor portion in the privileges of the 
righteous, who can " shew their faith by their 
works." 

§ 14. His Lordship supposes the meaning of 
St. James to be, that a dead faith was not suffi- 
cient for their 6 continuance in a state of justifi- 
* cation.'* But what evidence can be adduced, 
that a dead faith has ever introduced any man 
into a state of justification? If the mere cir- 
cumstance of a profession of faith, or being 
baptized, introduced them, we must conclude, 
however absurdly, that Simon Magus was jus- 
tified, while at the same time he was in " the gall 
of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity." The 
assumption, that one kind of faith is required 
for justification, and another for salvation, is 
alike unsupported by scripture and reason,— a 
distinction invented by popish ignorance for 
the sake of giving countenance to the notion of 
baptism justifying ex opere operate. His Lord- 
ship savs, that £ God is pleased to grant remission 
? of all past sins, for the sake of his blessed Son ? 



* Ryfut. p. 13 9. 



120 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. if. 

( on account of Faith only; but he requires 
c from those, whom he thus graciously receives 
1 into his favour, an implicit obedience to his 
{ commands in future : if they disobey, the 
e pardon is cancelled, the state of acceptance is 
1 forfeited, and liability to punishment ensues.'* 
Now it is natural to ask, is the " faith" on 
account of which remission of all past sins is 
granted, and consequently justification, a dead, 
or a lively faith ? If the former, we have the 
evidence to seek that they ever were justified, — 
and how can that which was never granted be 
' cancelled ?' If the latter, how comes a lively 
faith not to produce good works, of which they 
are the appropriate evidence? But on this point 
his Lordship is still more explicit. 

§ 15. We are told that, c as in the case of 
6 adult converts from Heathenism in the days 
' of the apostles, the state of justification, thus 
c [by repentance and faith] recovered by penitent 
' Christians, does not necessarily remain; its 
' continuance depends upon their abstinence 
' from those sins which are forbidden, and upon 
' the practice of those virtues which are en- 
c joined, in the gospel. By the indulgence of 
■ any criminal passion, or by the neglect of any 
* practicable duty, the state of justification is 



* Refut. p. 124. 



sect. ii. On Justifwtion. 121 

* forfeited, and the offender becomes again 
' liable to the wrath of God. Repentance 
< therefore and Faith, if sincere, will in all 
' cases procure justification ; but obedience must 
4 be added, to preserve the state of justification 
4 when obtained. ,# This it must be acknow- 
ledged, is also the opinion of Bishop Bull, as 
quoted by his Lordship. Again, ' Adults are 
4 not required to perform any good works pre- 
c vious to baptism, but simply to profess their 
c faith in the blessed Trinity, and to promise 
4 future obedience to God's holy will and com- 
6 mandments : they are then baptized, and by 
' this spiritual regeneration they receive re- 
' mission of all their former sins, both original 

* and actual.— But, from the corruption of his 
4 nature, and the enticements of sin, he [the 
4 justified person] may afterwards not lead a life 
1 agreeable to the precepts of the gospel — and 
c if he dies while he continues an impenitent 
t sinner, he will not be saved, although he had 

* justification in this world. 'f Dr. Waterland, 
on Justification, seems to regard this, as the 
sentiment of the Church of England. 

§ 16. Setting aside names and human au- 
thority, as we ought to do, let us calmly examine 
the sentiment itself. There are two things of 



* Refnt. p. 142. 



+ Ibid. p. 143. 



122 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. ii* 

primary importance, which require our attention : 
first, whether the justification supposed to be 
conferred by baptism, on profession of faith in 
the Trinity, and a promise of future obedience, 
be not a gratuitous assumption ; and, secondly, 
whether the difficulty proposed to be obviated 
by this statement, may not be more satisfactorily, 
that is, more scripturally and rationally, removed 
on different principles. As to thejirst of these 
points, what evidence is there, that adults, con- 
verted from Heathenism, or persons educated 
among Christians without baptism, are brought 
into a state of justification before God, by simply 
professing their faith in the Trinity and promi- 
sing future obedience, and being baptized ? That 
any churches, whether primitive or modern, have 
acted on this presumption, can surely be no 
substantial argument for the rectitude of the 
sentiment. Primitive practice may be as wrong- 
as a modern practice ; and if antiquity be a test 
of truth, there is scarcely an error or absurdity, 
which may not be proved to be true and correct. 
May not a hypocritical pretender profess faith 
and promise obedience, — nay, be baptized, and 
introduced to the visible church ? It is true the 
church ought, in the judgment of charity to 
esteem them as sincere in their profession and 
promise, and therefore in a justified state, until 
they give evidence to the contrary; but the 
omniscient God can be under no such obligation : 



sect. ii. On Justification* 125 

he sees their insincerity of profession and 
promise, and that their faith is dead. Surely no 
one without contradicting the whole tenor of 
holy writ, as well as many particular express 
declarations, can suppose that he approves, 
accepts, pardons and justifies those whom he 
knows to be insincere ; nor ean any thing be 
more adverse to scripture and piety than the 
notion, that baptism was ever designed to sanc- 
tify hypocrites, and to render those acceptable 
to God who were before detested by him? 

§ 17. It is granted that the apostolic writings 
regard those who were admitted to the Christian 
church to be Christians, and partakers of all the 
benefits of Christianity : but on what ground ? 
Clearly because it was charitably hoped that they 
believed and promised from a pure principle and 
a right motive. To be thus justified, however, 
by the fallible opinion of the church, is no 
evidence that they are so before God who 
searcheth the hearts. By him, such false pre- 
tenders both before and after baptism stand 
condemned ; and their being thus introduced to 
the participation of gospel privileges, and out- 
ward communion with the faithful, is so far 
from lessening their guilt, that it rather enhances 
their condemnation. Doubtless when they 
manifest a temper and conduct incompatible 
with true Christianity, they lose that justification 



124 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. %u 



which they had from the good opinion of the 
church; hut they lose no justification before 
God, because they were never possessed of any. 
He saw the rottenness of their heart before it 
discovered itself to the eyes of men, and that 
through every stage they were under his 
righteous condemning sentence. — Whether, in 
any instance a person possessing evangelical 
sincerity and a living faith, may afterwards lose 
these estimable qualities, belongs to a totally 
different question ; and the discussion of it in 
this place would be a premature digression. It 
may be sufficient to observe here, that if these 
qualities originate in themselves, they may 
certainly lose them ; but if they are imparted 
by sovereign mercy, there are many strong* 
reasons for concluding, that the " seed shall 
remain," and that their faith, however strongly 
assaulted, " shall not fail." 

§ 18. The second thing that remains to be 
considered, is, whether the difficulty to be ob- 
viated by his Lordship's statement may not be 
more satisfactorily removed on different prin- 
ciples. His design is, doubtless, to befriend the 
interests of practical piety. At first view it may 
appear plausible, that a dread of having our 
justification before God, cancelled, may be a 
strong barrier against licentiousness ; while a 
persuasion of the contrary opens a wide gate to 



sect. ii. On Justification. 125 

carelessness : but against this we have several 
considerations to offer. In the first place every 
sin, in whatever degree, is displeasing to God, — - 
and this displeasure duly apprehended is a far 
stronger barrier, except with the selfish and 
unprincipled, who regard the pleasure or dis- 
pleasure of God as only of secondary consider- 
ation. According to the one sentiment, a person 
will be no farther careful to please God, or to 
avoid sin, than to preserve his justification; 
according to the other, he has reason to guard 
against all sin, even the smallest. His language 
in the hour of temptation would be, " How can 
I do this great wickedness, and sin against Got! ?' 
In the next place, if every sin, however com- 
paratively small, forfeits our justification, where 
in this world shall we find a justified person? 
For "there is not a just man upon earth that 
doeth good and sinneth not." " If we say we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 
is not in us. 5 ' A sinful thought is displeasing to 
God, — but does every sinful thought forfeit our 
justified state? On this theory, the same person 
may have his justified state renewed and cancelled 
a hundred times a day ! And if we lessen the 
condition a little, and say, " By the indulgence 
of any criminal passion, or by the neglect of any 
practicable duty, the state of justification is 
forfeited, and the offender becomes again liable 
to the wrath of God f the inference is easy, that 



126 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. it, 

there is no harm in * criminal passion,' — God is 
not displeased with it, provided only Ave avoid 
its indulgence. The next clause indeed is more 
strict, the forfeiture being supposed to be incurred 
' by the neglect of any practicable duty.' But 
then, what can be the tendency of this statement, 
but either to lower the standard of practicable 
duty, or to make a person despair of keeping his 
justified state for any one day, one hour, one 
minute of his life ? In short, it amounts to this, — 
that we are no longer in a justified state, than 
we are in a state of sinless perfection. Let the 
reader judge Whether such a notion does not lead 
rather to gloomy scepticism, than to filial and 
chearful piety. 

§ 19. But I would observe, in the third place, 
that his Lordship seems to have overlooked the 
great difference there is between the require- 
ments of the moral law under the notion of a 
covenant, and those of the same law under the 
notion of a rule. In the former capacity it can 
admit of nothing less than perfection of charac- 
ter. This Adam had before the fall, and this he 
lost by the very first deviation from rectitude. 
This also the second Adam preserved entire as a 
substitute ; otherwise he would not have been a 
Saviour. A failure of obedience, would have 
been a failure of a federal righteousness. If any 
of the posterity of Adam be justified before God, 



sect. n. On Justification* 127 

it must be by a gracious imputation of what 
Jesus Christ has done and suffered in our stead. 
Hence " he who knew no sin, was made a sin- 
offering for us, that we might be constituted 
righteous in him," according to a plan of mercy. 
This was the very design of his incarnation and 
humiliation unto death : by becoming perfect 
through suffering, or obtaining a perfection of 
righteousness in this way, he is become the 
author of eternal redemption and salvation. But 
how are we to be made partakers of this federal 
righteousness? It is, as the scripture testifies, by 
our beina: in Christ. " There is no condemnation 
(i. e. there is justification) to them who are in 
Christ Jesus," and the evidence of this privilege 
is, that we <; walk not after the flesh but after 
the Spirit." This union is the basis both of 
justification before God, and of life, or a spiritual 
principle, from Christ. " For the law of the 
spirit of life (the quickening power) in Christ 
Jesus, makes them free from the law of sin and 
death." 

§ 20. Now the enquiry returns, what con* 
stitutes that oneness on account of which the 
imputation is made ? To imagine that no special 
oneness at all is necessary, is extremely unrea- 
sonable ; for then it would follow that every man ? 
in whose nature Christ appeared as a perfect 
character had an equal claim to his federal righ- 



128 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii* 

teousness, and justification by it. The scripture 
expressly says "That the righteousness/' thus 
prepared, " is upon all them that believe ;" and 
that to us also " it shall be imputed, if we believe 
on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the 
dead, who was delivered for our offences, and 
was raised again for our justification."* From 
these passages, in their connection, among many 
others, it is plain that faith, (a living, not a dead 
and unproductive faith), constitutes a justifying 
union. A dead faith forms no union in the sight 
of God, though it may in the charitable view of 
the church, whose province it is to judge from 
explicit profession, while this is not belied by 
overt acts incompatible with sincerity. But " God 
looketh not as man looketh ; man looketh at the 
outward appearance, but the Lord looketh at 
the heart." This faith by which we are justified, 
though oar oxvn, is not of ourselves, it is " the 
gift of God," from whom every good gift and 
every perfect gift proceedeth. While the act 
and deed is our own, being the exercise of our 
own mind, will, and heart, we are constrained 
by every consideration of the case, from scripture 
testimony, from pious gratitude, and from rational 
analogy, to ascribe our possession of the living 
principle of faith, as of every other internal grace, 
<o the inspiration of Gods Holy Spirit, as the 



* Rom* iii. 22. ir. 24, 25. 



sect. it. On Justification* 129 

Gift of the Mediator to the members of his 
mystical body. It is, therefore, of the Spirit of 
Christ that we are primarily united to him, and 
from this union the principle of faith is derived. 
The obligation to believe is one thing; the 
ability to believe, is another. The obligation 
arises from our possessing natural powers and a 
plain divine testimony; but the spiritual dispo- 
sition and actual willingness from the Holy 
Spirit. A cordial reception of Christ as our 
righteousness answers the requirements of the 
law under the notion of a covenant. 

§ £ 1 . But God's holy law has other require- 
ments under the notion of a rule. To have 
obtained that righteousness which meets the 
charge of a breach of original perfection, does 
not excuse the possessor of it from future obe- 
dience ; otherwise the divine law would be 
nothing more than a covenant, and Adam could 
have been guilty of only one sin : for how could 
he, or any of his posterity, be a subsequent 
transgressor, if the law did not continue a rule to 
man after his breach of covenant ? A deviation 
from the rectitude required by the law, which 
requirement of rectitude the very notion of a 
law implies, is sinful in every condition of man, 
whether at the fall, under the fall, or after a 
restoration from a condemned and depraved 
state. With respect to the first transgression* 



130 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. ii. 



compared with all subsequent ones, there is 
necessarily this difference, that he could not 
transgress the law as a rule without at the same 
time transgressing it as a covenant ; but all his 
subsequent transgressions were a deviation only 
from the rectitude of a rule. If he w r as to 
enjoy a favour only on condition of remaining 
a perfect character, it is evident that the favour 
was completely forfeited by the first deviation 
from that perfection. He failed in performing 
that very condition on which a continuance of 
the favour was suspended. To insist, therefore, 
that any such condition now exists respecting 
any of the fallen race, is chargeable with as 
much absurdity as to require personal perfection 
on a condition which is already forfeited, and 
which, without a plan of mercy in the sub- 
stitution of a perfect character, is as impossible 
as to recall the perfection of Adam. As Adam, 
consequently, could not transgress the law as a 
covenant of life without at the same time- 
transgressing it as a rule of right; so neither 
could he, after the first transgression, violate it 
as a covenant, — which, for the same reason, is 
the case with his posterity, who can transgress 
it only as a rule. 

22. But now, by a Mediator, there is a 
new covenant of life. What was required of 
him, as a substitute, was sinless obedience 



sect. ii. On Justification. 131 

resembling what was required of the first Adam ; 
— and this requirement he fulfilled : for srtch a 
Mediator and High Priest became us, " who 
was holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from 
sinners." And the condition of this new cove- 
nant proposed to us, is " to believe with the 
heart, unto righteousness, 15 or, in order to obtain 
his righteousness as our own. Now when this 
requirement is complied with, " we are not 
without law to God, but under the law to 
Christ." The pardoned offender is not rendered 
lawless. A justified state is not exempt from 
obligation. We are, as much as Adam was, 
required to love God with all our heart ; and 
seeing we are bought with a price, from this 
very consideration there is an additional claim 
on our grateful obedience, there is the most 
reasonable demand upon us " to glorify God 
with our bodies and our spirits." But if the 
condition of our continuance in a state of justifi- 
cation were the smallest deviation from rectitude, 
no one in this world, grown up above infancy, 
could be in a justified state. A failure of con- 
formity to the law as a rule, in any respect or 
degree, such as a defect in loving God " with all 
our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, 
and with all our strength, and our neighbour 
as ourselves," is a s'm. If therefore every sin 
be a breach of covenant, and consequently a. 
forfeiture of justification, we should in vain look 



132 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 

for any justified character among men, except, 
peradventure, at the moment of believing, — and 
even then, it may be justly questioned whether 
any person is entirely free from imperfection. 

§23. It is now natural to enquire, what 
then is the condition of continuance in justifi- 
cation ? — a most important question, and to 
which his Lordship, and every reader, has a 
right to demand an answer. This I shall endea- 
vour to give " with meekness and fear." It 
is, in general, the continuance of that, be it 
what it may, which first put us in a justified 
state. This cannot be a personal freedom from 
all sin ; else no one would ever be justified ; 
nor can it be freedom from gross offences, since 
from the'se many persons who have only a dead 
faith, or no faith at all, are exempt. It must 
therefore be, the possession of that lively faith 
which is the inseparable effect of possessing the 
Spirit of Christ. " If any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his :" but " he 
who is in Christ Jesus, has no condemnation." 
When it can be truly said of any man, that he 
has no justifying faith, has not the Spirit of 
Christ, or is not united to him as the living 
head of his living members, then it may be said 
that he is not in a justified state ; — but not other- 
wise. What persons may fancy their state to 
be is one thing: what it is in reality, in the 



gECT. ii. On Justification, 133 

sight of God, is a totally different one. Men may 
deceive themselves, but they cannot deceive the 
omniscient God. Every man, in the sight of 
God, is either condemned or justified ; but there 
are different degrees of attainment in holiness ; 
and " whatever a man soweth, that shall he 
also reap." Although Calv mists believe, from 
the testimony of scripture, from the wisdom of 
God, from the offices of Christ, and other con- 
siderations, that the living principle of faith, and 
the union from which it proceeds, never utterly 
forsakes a person thus favoured, however par- 
tially foiled in an hour of temptation, yet none, 
they contend, degenerated from that state of 
mind which indicated his justification, has a 
right to conclude in favour of his acceptance, 
further than he is conscious of repentance 
towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ : 
and he who infers that he was once justified 
before God, though now he lives in the indul- 
gence of known sin, has every reason to con- 
sider himself a miserable self deceiver. 

§ 24. In short, a deviation from the rule of 
righteousness is sin, and sin displeases God ; the 
indulgence of it provokes the holy one of Israel 
into anger, and such disobedience will bring on 
either the correction of a Father or the severity 
of a Judge. If they have a principle of a living 
faith, but are not so watchful against temptation 



134 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. u. 



as they ought to be, " their transgression shall 
be visited with a rod, and their iniquities with 
stripes," but the divine " faithfulness of mercy 
shall be with them." Sin is not connived at, 
but corrected; yet, for the sake of his inter- 
ceding surety, the offender is not cut down as 
a cumberer of the ground, nor separated from 
his covenant head : " My mercy will I keep for 
him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand 
fast with him : — my loving-kindness will I not 
utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithful- 
ness to fail." The backslider, if left to himself, 
or dealt with according to strict demerit, would 
fall to perdition; (and indeed the smallest sin 
deserves this exposure, and the cancelling of 
justification ;) but he who quickened him w T hen 
dead in sin, who gave him the spirit of repent- 
ance and faith, and who intercedes for him, in 
opposition to the claims of unmixed justice, 
renews him again unto the exercise of repent- 
ance and faith. " I have prayed for thee that 
thy faith fail not." The gracious interceding 
Surety looks upon him with an eye of reproof 
and compassion ; and he " goes out and weeps 
bitterly :" the divine Head of spiritual influ- 
ence to his mystical church and members, pours 
upon him a fresh supply of the spirit of grace 
and supplications, and this makes the penitent 
look unto him whom he has pierced, and to 
mourn with bitterness of spirit : and now he 



sect. ii. On Jiistificaiioji. 135 

cries, " Have mercy upon me, O God, according 
to thy loving* kindness ; according unto the 
multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my 
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine 
iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. — Create 
in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right 
spirit within me. — Restore unto me the joy of 
thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free 
spirit." 

§ 25. The reader is requested to judge with- 
out prejudice, whether the statement now given 
be not more consonant to scripture^ more worthy 
of the divine perfections, the character of the 
Saviour, and the interests of practical religion, 
than the notion contended for by his Lordship ; 
viz. that a dead faith and baptism will introduce 
a man into a justified state, but only a lively 
faith will ensure its continuance, or recover it 
when lost — that the neglect of any practicable 
duty forfeits a state of justification, which may 
be always recovered by repentance and faith, 
&c. It seems, from his account, that the first 
justification, which is obtained by a dead faith, 
is expected to produce sinless perfection, under 
pain of forfeiture • and that the same faith and 
promise of obedience will not obtain a restora- 
tion into the same state of acceptance. Have 
we not a right to demand, why conditions so 
extremely different should be required for am 



136 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. n. 



interest in the same benefit? If a dead faith will 
justify at one time, why not at another; or, if a 
lively faith be required for continuance, why not 
the same required for commencement? If a man 
with only a dead stock be declared in a good 
condition, why should not the possession of the 
same stock be pronounced sufficient a second, a 
twentieth, or a thousandth time, or why should 
4 the neglect of any practicable duty' immedi- 
ately declare him a bankrupt? If, on the con- 
trary, however, we are placed in a good and 
acceptable condition by partaking of the Spirit 
of Christ, the continuance of this participation 
secures the continuance of that acceptable con- 
dition. Supposing the condition of continuance 
to be the exercise of faith, that exercise must be 
incessant and never-failing, and to fall asleep 
would be to lose our acceptance with God ! 
Whereas, if the condition be a living union to 
Christ, who is ever present and ever active, 
then " whether we wake or sleep, live or die, 
we are accepted of him." To him who judgeth 
infallibly, this is an adequate ground and evi- 
dence of the justification of our persons, though 
to ourselves the evidence must be a conscious 
sincerity of repenting and believing. 

§ 26. There is one thing more to be ob-* 
served, before we close this discussion; viz* 
that there is an important difference between 



sect. ii. On Justification, 137 

the justification of our persons, and the justifi- 
cation of our actions. Every sinful act, and 
every neglect of duty, is condemnable ; but it 
does not follow that every person on account of 
the failure, is struck off from the list of accept- 
ance, without involving endless absurdities — * 
such as confounding a federal and personal 
righteousness — destroying the fundamental dif- 
ference between a covenant and a rule of action 
— placing a fallen sinner in the same predica- 
ment of continuance in favour with sinless 
Adam — making the divine Head of influence, as 
such, a mere cypher in the recovery of our 
justification, supposed to be lost — and imagining 
justification and condemnation to proceed alter- 
nately in rapid succession; a succession as rapid 
and frequent, for ought we know, as those of 
individual human volitions: — now justified by a 
dead faith, next condemned for neglect of ' any 
1 practicable duty,' then restored by sincere 
faith, anon condemned for another failure, and 
so on, it may be, ten thousand times over, till 
the moment of death, — and finally if 'any neglect 
attach to us at that moment, we lie under con- 
demnation for ever! And these, I apprehend, 
are the genuine consequences of his Lordship's 
theory of Justification. — It must be owned, 
however, that many of the Christian fathers 
have been too favourable in their mode of ex- 
pression to that sentiment; expressions which 



v 

138 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



the corrupt hierarchy of Rome eagerly caught 
up for advancing its own importance, and which 
an ignorant multitude as eagerly adopted, as the 
easiest way to justification and heaven. 



SECT. III. 



Concern wg Faith . 



139 



Sect. III. 

The Bishop's avozoed Sentiments concerning Faith, 
examined. 

§ 1. His Lordship's peculiar notions concerning Faith stated, 

§ 2, 3. His notion concerning the Faith of Heathens, examined. 

^4 — 6. That a dead Faith may rise to a lively Fa,ith, examined. 

§ 7. That Faith only will not preserve justification, examined. §8. By 
his Lordship's own statements, and § 9, 10. By scriptural illus- 
trations. 

§ 11. The importance of Faith and practice deduced from their ends 
respectively. 

§ 12. That Faith is not bestowed arbitrarily, examined. 
§ 13. The Calvinistic view of Faith summarily explained. 

§ 1. "When treating on this important 
article of the Christian doctrine, with a view to 
refute Calvinism, his Lordship advances some 
very remarkable sentiments that require exami- 
nation. Among other things he supposes, That 
the faith of Heathens was, believing that com- 
pliance with their law was acceptable to God — 
that a dead faith may rise to a lively faith— 
that faith only, will not preserve justification — ■ 
that faith is the gift of God, but is not bestowed 
arbitrarily — and that faith is the result of can- 
dour and diligence. 



§ 2. £ The Gentiles were a law unto them- 
* selves, and their faith,' his Lordship observes, 



140 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. n, 

4 consisted in believing that a compliance with 
* that law was acceptable to the Deity/* It is 
natural to ask, what Deity? They had Moloch 
and Dagon, Jupiter and Mars, Apollo and Bac- 
chus, Minerva and Venus; with innumerable 
others. Faith, in the acceptation of believing, 
it will be allowed, is giving credit to a testi- 
mony ; and divine faith requires a divine testi- 
mony ; but had any Deity of the Gentiles a 
testimony to give ? If it be said that God bore 
a testimony to their consciences by the law 
within them, which they believed ; it may be 
again asked, why should this be called faith, 
any more than their believing that they had 
passions, or that they were the subjects of 
hunger and thirst ? Or if their consciences bore 
witness, and their thoughts the mean while 
accused or excused, what propriety is there in 
calling this faith ? As well may an Atheist be 
called a believer, because even he cannot get 
rid of the suggestions of conscience ; and his 
thoughts accuse him for doing or designing 
some things, or excuse him when he does or 
designs the contrary. And indeed, as the 
apostle observes, the G entiles were (afisoi) atheists, 
" without God in the world," though the visible 
effects of an invisible cause, an eternal power 



* Refut. p. 102, Note. 



sect. in. Concerning Failk. 141 

and Godhead, rendered them without excuse 
for being so. 

§ 3. But supposing that some of them ad- 
mitted the conviction of an eternal and almighty 
Being, and that he was a righteous avenger of 
evil deeds, and was an approver of virtue ; and 
supposing too that we admit the appellation 
Jaitky in reference to such conviction; what 
influence could a belief ( that a compliance with 
< a law within them was acceptable to the 
i Deity,' have on their salvation from sin and 
guilt? To believe that a compliance is acceptable? 
is one thing ; but to comply is another. A be- 
lief which was not productive of obedience, 
could be nothing more than a dead faith. Must 
we recur again to the notion, that their dead 
faith, brought them into a state of acceptance 
with God — without baptism? If it be pleaded, 
that some of them may possibly have rendered 
as much obedience, according to the means 
they had, as many Christians who are possessed 
of a lively faith ; I shall not dispute the possi- 
bility of it, but must maintain that, on the sup- 
position, they must have derived it from him 
who is the Head of all spiritual influence to 
fallen man. How far he who has power over 
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as 
many as the Father has given him, actually 
imparts a spiritual influence, which produces a 



142 Modern Calvinism Defended. cil ii. 



spirit of faith, to adult Heathens, it is not my 
province to determine. It is sufficient for me 
to know, that the Judge of the whole earth 
does all things righfc, that he " wrongeth no 
man in his matters/' and that the methods of 
his mercy, as well as of his justice, are adorable. 
Of this however we may be sure, First, that if 
such favours are conferred, the}^ must be, not 
only for the sake, or through the mediation, of 
the blessed Saviour, but also by his direct in- 
fluence, and, Secondly, that wherever a spirit 
of faith exists, it will shew itself by believing 
the testimony of God in the Gospel, when 
fairly proposed in a language understood by its 
possession. As sure as any one has the Spirit 
of Christ, he will receive the testimony con- 
cerning him, and devote himself to be governed 
by his laws, in proportion as he under- 
stands it. 

§ 4. It is one of his Lordship's very extra- 
ordinary sentiments, that a dead faith may rise 
to a lively faith. Witness his words, c It is very 
c possible that a sinful or negligent Christian 
\ may be awakened to a sense of his duty by 
c some calamitous or extraordinary event, and 
c for a time really feel a true and lively faith ; 
c but the impression may be effaced, and by 
' yielding to temptation to sin, or by being again 
6 engrossed by worldly cares, he may fall from 



•sect. Hi. Concerning Faith. 143 

£ his justified state, without losing all belief in 
' the truth of the gospel. This man's faith 
'rise's from a dead to a lively faith, and after- 
; wards relapses into a dead faith again.'* A 
part of this statement is not controverted, viz. 
That it is ' very possible,' that a sinful or negli- 
gent Christian may he azcalcened to a sense of 
his duty ; for with God all things are possihle, 
which do not imply a contradiction. He who 
quickened the sinner when he w T as dead in 
trespasses, no doubt can awaken him when sin- 
ful or negligent. And this he can do by 4 some 
* calamitous or extraordinary event/ provided 
grace be conveyed to his heart; otherwise the 
rod will be lifted up in vain, and the severest 
discipline will be ineffectual. This also is pos- 
sible by reading, by hearing the word of God ? 
by the admonitions, remonstrances, or the re- 
proofs of a friend, by musing on the goodness 
of God, or by other means innumerable ; but 
none of these things operate on a free agent 
mechanically. The effect will be as the state 
of his mind is disposed to improve them ; — and 
I am apprehensive that a dead faith is but ill 
adapted to produce a lively effect. If he has 
but a spark of spiritual life, though the spirit 
of a living faith be but as smoaking flax, these 
things may contribute to make the fire kindle, 

* Refut. p. ICO. 



144 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. u, 

and to raise it into a flame : but if the life be 
gone, not a spark remaining, a supply of fuel 
will not restore it, except he be baptized with 
celestial fire. 

§ 5. It is again granted, that many a good 
{ impression may be effaced,' that the fire of 
affection may be less warm, and the flame of 
zeal grow dim ; — and this by 6 yielding to 
6 temptation/ or by being too much ' engrossed 

* by worldly cares.' But that a person who was 
once dead to sin and alive to God, ' may fall 

* from his justified state/ depends upon the good 
pleasure of him who his is life, his righteousness 
and strength, who can maintain or dissolve the 
union from whence his life and righteousness 
took their origin. And Calvinists think that 
such declarations as these have some weight : 
" My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me ; and I give unto them 
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither 
shall any pluck them out of my hand."* " He 
who has begun a good work in you will perform 
it until the day of Jesus Christ "f Indeed a 
total falling from the life of faith, would not 
imply ' losing all belief in the truth of the 
gospel.' Since what might be prior to possessing 
the life of faith, might still remain. 



* John x. 27, 28. 



+ Phil. i. 6. 



sect. Hi, Concerning Faith. 145 

$ 6. Now the question is, whether in any 
instance 6 this man's faith rises from a dead to a 
lively faith.' One might think that the proper- 
answer to this question is about as plain as would 
be the answer to the following, Whether water 
left to itself, according to the constituted laws 
of nature, will rise above its level? With God, 
indeed, all things are possible, and he who raised 
Lazarus from the grave, can raise the spiritually 
dead to life again. If his Lordship will but 
allow, that the giving or the restoring of the 
life of faith depends more on the grace of God 
our Saviour, than on the will of a man dead in 
sin, the Calvinists will not quarrel about the 
remaining parts of the question. 

§ 7. His Lordship contends, that faith only 
will not preserve justification. These are his 
words : ' Faith only will not preserve a man in 
' a justified state ; it must be accompanied by 
i works, for faith without works is dead.' # One 
would think it a very natural inference, that if 
1 faith only' will justify a man once, it will do so 
a second time, or as often as he needs justifica- 
tion, — for how can the circumstance of priority 
or posteriority of time affect the case? If, for 
instance, his believing in the Trinity and pro- 
fessing obedience, is sufficient at one time, why 

*Kefut, p. 119. 



146 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch» n f 



not sufficient at another ? Or, if nothing less 
than a lively faith will do the second time, why 
should any thing less do at the first? If it be 
said, that at first baptism' was added to his dead 
faith to make it effectual ; Calvinists will reply, 
that they cannot admit the argument to be 
decided by the force of a Popish conceit : they 
look, (but look in vain,) for scripture and sound 
reason to confirm it When however, it is said, 
6 Faith only will not preserve,' the terms may 
be taken two ways : first, a faith without life 
will not preserve ; and, secondly, a lively faith 
without works, will not preserve. We allow the 
first, for good reason, because what in its nature 
cannot introduce us into a justified state, as 
before proved, cannot preserve that state. But 
we have some further observations to make upon 
the second acceptation of the phrase, viz. that 
a lively faith without works will not preserve 
justification. Candour requires us to understand 
his Lordship in this way ; for he never would 
impute to us the absurdity of holding the notion 
of a dead faith having the efficacy of preserving 
us in a state into which it never introduced us. 
He must have known our sentiments better; 
nor would he have given himself so useless a 
trouble. 

§ 8. c Faith only will not preserve us.' Here 
several difficulties arise. First, from his Lord- 



sect. lit. Concerning Faith, 147 

ship's own declarations, ' Faith then stands in 
1 the place of righteousness, or uniform obe- 
i dience.' # Again, ' Repentance and faith, if 

* sincere, will in all cases -procure justification.' 
It is indeed subjoined 'but obedience must be 
' added, to preserve the state of justification 

* when obtained.'^ This, however, increases the 
difficulty : for we are told that ^in reality, true 
'Christian faith, and good works pleasant and 
€ acceptable to God, are in their own nature 
' inseparable. True faith produces good works 

* as naturally as a tree produces its fruit.'J If 
sincere faith 'in all cases' will procure justifi- 
cation, why not procure its continuance? And 
if such faith 6 naturally' produces good works, 
and both are 6 inseparable,' of what use is it to 
warn us against the inenicacy of ' faith only V 
We acknowledge that good works are the proper 
evidence to ourselves and other men of a true 
Christian faith; but the appearance of these 
works does not alter the nature of faith, any 
more than fruit alters the nature of the tree 
that bears it. 

§ 9- But, secondly, what can be the preser- 
vation of a justified state, but the continuance 
of the same cause producing the same effect ? 
His Lordship allows, that \ faith only, procures* 



* Refut. p. 112. f lb. p. 142. | lb. p. 160. 



148 Modern Calvinism Deeenbed. ch. ti. 

the favour ; how is it then that the continuance 
of the same cause does not preserve the same 
eifect r A good tree is not equally fruitful in all 
seasons, and a seas'on may occur when the 
wonted fruit does not appear; shall we there- 
fore pass the sentence of condemnation upon 
the tree, and pronounce it to he had in the root, 
as well as accidentally bare in the branches? 
Or, shall we not rather continue to justify it as a 
good tree, and as such preserve it, notwith- 
standing its accidental failure, and employ suitable 
means to assist its fructification. But if a tree 
be planted in a favourable situation, under 
whatever promise or persuasion of its producing 
sweet apples, and it uniformly bears only sour 
crabs, we condemn it, as being different from the 
promise and persuasion. 

§ 10. It will be said, perhaps, that the 
contrast to good works, are bad works, rather 
than no fruit. We will then change the illus- 
tration. Christian faith in the human mind, 
may be compared to a scion of an excellent 
quality, that in due time bears corresponding 
fruit But if any of the other branches remain 
of the crab stock, these, also may bear fruit of 
a very different quality. Then the same obser- 
vations will apply as in the former case. Blessed 
are those trees of righteousness whose good 
fruits abound to the suppression of the bad. In 



s ect . in. Concerning Faith . 1 49 

another view of the same subject, " our life is 
Jiid with Christ in God." From him we derive 
a quickening influence and fruitfulness. And 
those who are in him only by profession, without 
a living union, he taketh away, and casteth into 
the fire ; but the branch that beareth fruit, lie 
prime th it, that it may bring forth more fruit; 
and then is our heavenly Father most glorified., 
when we bring forth most good fruit, In short, 
we may safely conclude, that whatever procures 
justification, preserves it; and that good works, 
or active holy devotedness to the will of God, 
are the legitimate evidence in both cases. A 
vital union to Christ is, in the sight of God, the 
only thing that can render us acceptable. This 
union is formed, on Christ's part, by his Holy 
Spirit ; and on our part, by the spirit of faith 
aspiring to its divine object. But the nature of 
our works, shews the nature of our faith ; and 
their degree, the degree of its prevalence. 

§ 11. We do not magnify the importance of 
Faith at the expence of practice. Every thing 
should be regarded with reference to its appro- 
priate end. The end of a testimony given is 
believing it ; the end of a command is obeying 
it ; the end of obedience, virtue and piety, is 
the chief good, which is objectively the infinite, 
eternal, and blessed God, and subjectively our 
enjoyment of him as our endless portion. The 



150 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



whole of divine revelation is of the nature of a 
testimony from God to mankind; hence the 
importance of believing it without wavering: 
and much of this testimony is in the form of 
authoritative command; whence arises the im- 
portance of implicit and unreserved obedience. 
The end of sanctions is an unhesitating compli- 
ance : the end of benefits proposed, is a grateful 
reception, and of those actually conferred, a 
profitable improvement : the end of threatening^ 
is abstinence from evil, and if slighted, condign 
sufferings. Hence Calvinistic teachers inculcate 
the importance both of faith and of practice ; 
the former as the foundation, the latter as the 
superstructure. Not only the unbeliever, but 
the offender of whatever class is admonished, 
warned, and threatened in the name of God and 
our Saviour, "who will come with flaming fire 
to take vengeance on them that know not God, 
and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' , 
They are in the habit of proclaiming to their 
hearers that " with God there is no respect of 
persons," and " whatsoever a man soweth that 
shall he also reap that " to be carnally minded 
is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and 
peace." I believe they are not behind any other 
denomination of Christians, in reproving sinners 
of every class, and inculcating personal and 
relative duties. Look at their societies, their 
families, their tempers, their conversations, their 



sect. HI. Concerning Faith. 151 

loyalty, their charitable contributions, their 
exertions to spread the scriptures, ai>d to instruct 
the ignorant, to promote the peace of society and 
the happiness of mankind — view them through 
an unprejudiced medium, and "by their fruits 
ye shall know them." 

^12. His Lordship avows, that faith is the 
gift of God ; but that he does not bestow it 
arbitrarily. While commenting on the Church 
Article on Free Will, which states that man 
" cannot turn and prepare himself by his own 
natural strength and good works, to faith and 
calling upon God," he observes respecting true 
faith, as contradistinguished from ' a bare 
' belief in the divine mission of Christ,' that 
6 It is indeed the gift of God, for without God's 
' assistance, no man can possess it; but it is a 
f gift not bestowed arbitrarily, capriciously, or 
' irrespectively.'* That the infinitely wise God 
should bestow a favour, or do any thing else ? 
capriciously, without reason, or irrespectively, 
without a wise reference to a worthy end, is out 
of the question ; for his Lordship must be too 
equitable to impute to Calvinists, a sentiment 
which they utterly abhor. But they do avow 
the sentiment that his gifts, as distinguished 
from rewards, are bestowed arbitrarily \ or accord- 

* Refut. p. 54, 



152 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ti. 



ing to his sovereign pleasure ; — and faith among 
other gifts. " He has mercy on whom he will 
have mercy." And has he not a right " to do 
what he will with his own ?" Should cur eye be 
evil, because he bestows gifts upon others where 
there is no ground of claim ? Has he not a right 
to impart " gifts unto men, yea to the rebellious 
also, that the Lord God may dwell among 
them ?" Is there no ground of reason and wisdom 
in conferring them, beside the worthiness of the 
receiver? Distributive justice, indeed, in rewards 
and punishments, is exercised ' respectively.' 
Its measure of operation is founded on the 
'worthiness or demerit of its object. But it is 
the prerogative of benevolence, grace, and 
mercy, to overlook worthiness in their objects ; 
and the measure of their exercise is adequately 
found in supreme wisdom. If man since the fall 
" cannot turn and prepare himself by his own na- 
tural strength and good works, to faith? — and if 
God give him a supernatural principle from whence 
" faith and calling upon God" arises, though before 
" dead in trespasses and sins/' where is the ground 
of equitable remonstrance? The receiver, it is self- 
evident, can have none : nor can the unworthy 
have any. And as to the Giver, his own good 
pleasure, directed by a depth of wisdom to us 
unfathomable, ought to exclude all cavil from 
his creatures. In short, though he rewards 
according to the measure of obedience; he gives 



sect. in. Concerning Faith. 153 

in a manner, in a degree, and in a season, worthy 
of himself, and far be} r ond our deservings. 

§ 1 5. Once more, it is asserted, that 6 faith 
is the result of candour and diligence.' Thus 
his Lordship reasons : £ The Bereans were com- 

* mended, " in that they received the word with 
i all readiness of mind, and searched the scrip- 
€ tures daily, whether those things were so;" and it 
1 is immediately added, " therefore many of them 
■ believed :" hence it appears, that the faith of 
£ the Bereans was the result of the candour 
' with which they listened to the preaching of 
< the apostle, and of the diligence with which 

* they enquired into the evidences of the gospel.'* 
The question is not, whether the Bereans 
manifested candour and diligence, nor yet 
whether this was commendable; for upon this 
there can be but one sentiment, It is likewise 
agreed, that their candour and diligence preceded 
their explicit avowal of the gospel. Nay we 
may go a step further, and admit that their 
faith in part resulted from these estimable par- 
ticulars. But were the Bereans less commend- 
able on supposition that they were inspired 
with candour, and divinely excited to diligence? 
(< They received die word with all readiness of 
mind ;" but this is no evidence that they were 



Refut. p. 24. 



154 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. lit 

not graciously influenced to do so. The ques- 
tion is, whether their faith was the result ex- 
clusively of their candour and diligence; or 
whether these were not the fruit of an influence 
from above ? 

§ 14. Faith in the sense of believing, implies 
several things. First, a testimony ; and a divine 
faith must have a divine testimony, in order to 
deserve that appellation : secondly, a knowledge 
of the thing declared, or a sufficient acquaint- 
ance with the language in which the message 
is delivered : thirdly, a freedom of will ; so that 
there is no compulsion, constraint, or influence 
whatever from God to believe a false testi- 
mony ; though he may in equity and judgment 
, leave the wicked to their own delusions " to 
believe a lie ;" and a freedom also from restraint 
in the exercise of will, when truth is to be 
credited, is implied: fourthly, a disposition, or 
principle; and the nature of faith, as either 
dead or living, will be according to the de- 
fective or efficient principle. If the disposition 
be not spiritually alive, the most awful or 
exhilarating testimony will beget but a dead 
faith; but where the disposition is alive to God, 
or divinely spiritual, the testimony will beget a 
lively belief. Such a disposition will shew itself 
in various ways beside believing ; and among 
others by £ candour and diligence/ readiness of 



sect. iv. Concerning Good Works, 155 

mind to receive truth, and an impartial search 
into its evidences. Admitting then, that faith is 
the " result of candour and diligence," these also 
are themselves the result of gracious influence. 
Calvinists are far from supposing that candour in 
listening, and diligence of enquiry into the 
evidences of the gospel are of no use ; on the 
contrary, they consider them of great use. But 
they cannot consistently draw the conclusion, that 
the disposition itself from whence they spring, 
needs no previous divine influence to produce 
that result ; — any more than they can infer that 
there may be an effect without any adequate 
cause. 



156 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



Sect. IV. 

The Bisftoj) 7 s avowed Sentiments concerning Goob 
Works , examined. 

§ !. The Bishop's contradictory statements. 

§ 2. His comment on St. Paul's Faith without Charity or Good "Works, 
examined. 

| S — 5. His opinion that we may recommend ourselves to the 
favour and mercy of God, and render ourselves worthy the medi- 
ation of Christ, examined. 5) 6, 7. The imprudence of using such 
language. 

^ § — 11. Ministerial addresses employed by Calvinists, described and 
vindicated. § 12. His Lordship's view of the importance of 
recommending Good Works, considered, with an appeal to the 
actual effects of different modes. 

§ 1. Ox the subject of Good Works we have 
several statements made in his Lordship's " Re- 
futation," which require no small degree of 
ingenuity even plainly to reconcile them. In 
one place we read thus : ' Indeed that there is 
4 no necessary connexion between faith or belief 
6 and good works, even according to St. Paul, 
£ who is the great advocate for the doctrine 
& of justification by faith, is evident from 
i a passage in his first Epistle to the Co- 
1 rinrhians — " Though I have all faith so that I 
1 could remove mountain*, and have not charity, 
4 I am nothing/' Could St. Paul have described 
c faith in stronger terms — or could he have 
' inculcated the necessity of good works in 



sect. iv. Concerning Good Works. 157 

* stronger language ?' * In another place we 
read : ' In reality, true Christian faith, and good 
' works pleasant and acceptable to God, are in 
c their own nature inseparable. True faith pro- 
( duces good works as naturally as a tree pro- 

* duces its fruit/f In a note we have this 
explanation : ' Faith, or the general belief of 

* the truth of Christianity, is not necessarily 
' connected with good works. True Christian 
6 faith and good works are inseparable.' Again : 

* The ministers of our church are unquestionably 

* authorised by our Articles to speak of faith, as 

* signifying a firm reliance upon the merits of 
4 Christ for salvation, necessarily productive of 
c good works.' J 

§ 2. Now, if St. Paul, in his first Epistle to 
the Corinthians, intended * a true Christian 
' faith,' how can his Lordship's remarks upon it 
be reconciled with his other declarations, that 
faith and good works are inseparable : and if 
St. Paul did not intend such faith, but some 
other — as a general belief of the ' truth of 

* Christianity,' or, the faith by which miracles 
were performed, which appears from the con- 
nexion to be the case — of what use are the 
observations upon it? Need any one to be 
assured by proof— a professed appeal to scrip- 



* Refat. p. ISO. f lb* p. 160. J lb. p. 163, 



158 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. if. 

ture evidence — that a faith which no one ex- 
pects to produce good works, has no ' necessary 
' connexion' with them? At least, did any Cal- 
vinist suppose any such connexion? His Lord- 
ship asks, c could St. Paul have described faith 
'in stronger terms?' What faith? The terms 
indeed are strong to describe the faith of mira- 
cles ; but the following are stronger to indicate 
justifying or saving faith. " Faith unfeigned" 
" The faith of God's elect." Faith which is 
" the substance of things hoped for, and the 
evidence of things not seen." " Precious faith." 
Faith which " overcometh the world." " Most 
holy faith." That by which a man is justified, 
by which his heart is purified, and his person 
sanctified • by which he has access to God, by 
which he has power, or privilege, to become a 
son of the Most High; that by which Christ 
dwells in his heart, by which he offers a 
sacrifice acceptable to God, and walks with 
him : — these are superior qualities, and more 
excellent effects, than those of which St. Paul 
speaks in the passage above referred to. 

§ 3. We are again told, That we may recom- 
mend ourselves to God by good words. ' Men, 
( as they now are, are not capable of perfect 
* obedience, but they are capable of endea- 
c vouring to attain it. Such an endeavour is their 
' indispensable duty ; and although it may not 



sect. iv. Concerning Good Works. 159 

* in all instances, and on every occasion bt 
c effectual, it is humbly hoped that it may be 
'sufficient to recommend them to the favour of 

* God, forasmuch as what their infirmity lacketh, 
i Christ's justice hath supplied.' His Lordship 
avows, that a minister of the Established Church 
ought not to be blamed for 6 hoping that his 
4 congregation will recommend themselves to the 
'favour of God by a regular attendance upon 
1 divine ordinances, and an uniform practice of 
6 religious duties' — and for ' urging the neces- 
' sity of recommending ourselves to the mercy of 
6 God, and rendering ourselves worthy the medi- 

* ation of Jesus Christ by an holiness of living 

* and by an abhorrence of vice.' 

§ 4. That good works are pleasant and ac- 
ceptable to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, 
is language that any Christian may approve, 
but the phrases above printed in Italics appear 
inconsistent with the economy of grace, and not 
a little offensive to Christian humility, especially 
in the connexion in which they are introduced- 
How much more suitable and pious the language 
and sentiment of the patriarch Jacob, " I am 
not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of 
all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy 
servant." Or of the Centurion, " / am not 
worthy that thou shouldest come under my 



160 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



§ 5. As words acquire different acceptations, 
according to their connexion, so we find the 
term " worthy " denoting different things. 
Christians are exhorted, to " walk worthy of 
their vocation," — " worthy of the Lord," — 
" worthy of God." In such phrases, the ob- 
vious meaning is, that they conduct themselves 
in a manner suitable to their privileges and 
relations. In this sense we may say, that a 
man conducts himself wort hily in certain cir- 
cumstances; as Solomon said of Adonijah, "If 
lie will shew himself a worthy man, there shall 
not a hair of him fall to the earth. " Sometimes the 
term " worthv" denotes deserving ; as when a man 
is said to be " worthy of death," or " worthy of 
punishment," — or, when it is said of God that 
he is " worthy to be praised ;" and of the divine 
Saviour, that he is " worthy to receive glory 
and power, &c." Again, when it is said that 
" the labourer is zvorthy of his reward;" that 
the saints " shall walk in white, for they are 
worthy" it implies not only suitableness but also 
a kind of desert. Where there is a stipulation, 
cither tacit or expressed; on performance of 
the condition, the notion of desert is attached 
to the reward stipulated, however unmeritorious 
might be the performance independent of 
promise. 



% 6. But in which of these acceptations, or 



Sect. iv. Concerning Good Works. lt)l 

in what other, are we to understand the phrase 
which his Lordship has undertaken to vindicate ? 
Is there any sense in which it can be vindicated, 
when addressed to a mixed audience, in which 
it is more than probable there are many uncon- 
verted persons, or in a publication addressed to 
professing Christians promiscuously, the far 
greater part of whom have little more of Christi- 
anity than the name ? To urge on the uncon- 
verted the necessity of tendering themselves 
c worthy of the mediation of Jesus Christ by 
* holiness of living and an abhorrence of vice," 
has a direct tendency to delude them. It tends 
to foster pride and presumption. Pride, be*- 
cause it leads them to self-sufficiency, rather 
than to " repentance towards God," and self- 
abhorrence before him, on account of their mul- 
tiplied offences. This was not the method our 
Saviour took in dealing with the unconverted 
and self-righteous. I said also that such lan- 
guage tends to foster presumption in the uncon- 
verted ; because it leads them to conclude that 
they are in a justified state, or converted already. 
Instead of this they should be alarmed of their 
danger, until signs of contrition and some un- 
equivocal fruits of repentance are supposed to 
shew themselves. To urge a profane swearer, 
a drunkard, a gambler, a fornicator, and the 
like, many of whom attend public worship, and 

M 



162 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ii. 



gome of them read a book of fashionable 
divinity, — to 6 render themselves worthy the me- 
• diation of Jesus Christ by holiness of living, &c.' 
is an exhortation egregiously misplaced, and 
calculated to subvert the gospel order. The 
address would not probably be disliked by the 
ignorant, the proud, and presumptuous ; but 
for that very reason it is the more likely to 
delude them, as exciting hopes of success in a 
way which will never be realized, and which 
in the common order of the divine procedure, 
never can be. Even the truly pious, know- 
ing the address to be promiscuous, so as to 
include the impenitent and pharisaic, would be 
rather grieved than edified : and the more they 
knew of themselves, and of the spiritual design 
of the scriptures, to humble the sinner, to stain 
the glory of all flesh, to exalt the Saviour " as 
all in all" in the work of a sinners acceptance 
before God, the less could they approve of it 
in such connexion. 

§ 7. The phrase £ to recommend themselves 
' to the favour" or, ' to the ?nercy of God/ in 
the same promiscuous manner, is equally objec- 
tionable, and for the same reasons. They have 
enough of native pride and of habitual presump- 
tion to fancy, that by a few pharisaic endeavours, 
which to them indeed is a mighty effort, they 
are sure to obtain the favour of God : Whereas 



sect. iv. Concerning Good Works. 163 

the axe should be laid to the root of their sin ; 
the aim should be to humble them, to make 
them feel their unworthiness, their guilt, their 
exposure to the holy vengeance of God as 
transgressors ; to excite them to pray for mercy, 
iC to seek the Lord while he may be found, and 
to call upon him while he is near." That 
* endeavouring to attain perfect obedience,' 
is every man's indispensable duty, is freely 
admitted; but to urge this promiscuously on 
men, because they bear the name of Christians, 
though full of sinful lusts and passions, is " zeal 
without knowledge," because as proposed to 
them, it is duty misplaced, — as much out of 
place, as would be the duty of an adult to be 
baptized, and to partake of the Lord's supper, 
previous to repentance and faith : for though it 
is the " indispensable duty" of every man in a 
Christian country who has not been baptized, 
to submit to that ordinance; yet to urge this 
directly and promiscuously, without insisting 
on the previous requisites, would be the ready 
way to profane a divine institution, to multi- 
ply hypocrites and pharisees, and to ruin the 
honour and purity of the Christian church. 

§ 8. Habitual transgressors, then, should be 
alarmed of their danger, by shewing them the 
error of their ways; reproved, and convinced 
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: in- 



164 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. in- 



formed of the odious nature and ruinous con- 
sequences of sin, and of their own sins particu- 
larly; and assured, from the highest authority, 
that if they repent not, they shall perish, and 
if they believe not the gospel-record from the 
heart, they shall be condemned. While so 
employed, the preacher, or the practical writer, 
may hope, that the Holy Spirit by his gracious 
influence will succeed his humble and faithful 
efforts. If not, he has delivered his own soul ; 
but if his message have the desired effect, or 
if he have room to suppose it, he describes the 
state of such persons, and sets before them the 
gospel remedy. Like a skilful physician, he 
adapts his prescription to the nature of the 
complaint, and the circumstances of the patient. 
The other method, which prescribes remedies 
and regimens to all alike, without a proper dis- 
crimination of diseases and circumstances, and 
without observing the symptoms, is empiricism 
of the most dangerous kind. 

§ 9, When there is good reason to conclude 
that persons are the subjects of "godly sorrow 
that worketh repentance not to be repented of,'' 
let them be instructed in the exercise of faith 
in Christ as " the end of the law and the pro- 
phets," as the great ordinance of God for righ- 
teousness to every one that believeth with the 
heart, as " the w'ay" to the Father, "the truth " 



sect. tv. Concerning Good Works'. 

of the promises and types, and "the life" ever- 
lasting. " He that lias the Son hath life f the 
life of righteousness, the life of holiness, and 
the promise of the life of gloiy. Let him be 
clearly instructed, that true faith receives the 
divine testimony on the authority of God, and 
the Lord Jesus Christ as the only and all- 
sufficient Saviour from sin, as well as from 
future misery ; that it implies a firm trust and 
confidence in him as the divine prophet, priest, 
and king ; and an unreserved surrender of the 
soul and body, in life and death, to his disposal. 
Let him now be directed to " live by the faith 
of the Son of God," who loved him, and gave 
himself for him ; to walk worthy of so exalted 
a relation and privilege ; to abstain from fleshly 
lusts, that war against the soul's welfare and 
comfort, yea, from all appearance of evil ; to 
rim the race that is set before him, looking 
unto Jesus, and for that purpose to lay aside 
every weight, and every besetting sin. Let 
him now be exhorted not to be weary in well- 
doing, but to maintain the profession of his faith 
without wavering, holding the mystery of faith 
in a pure conscience ; to be steadfast and immo- 
vable, always abounding in the work of the 
Lord, being assured that his labour, his work of 
faith and labour of love, shall not be in vain in 
the Lord. Let him now be reminded of the 



366 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch, h, 

greatness of gospel privileges, in order to 
awaken his gratitude. 

§ 10. Grace, however, in its highest attain- 
ment, does not, cannot alter the nature of sin. 
It is still the abominable thing which the Lord 
hateth. Hence, thanksgiving for past delive- 
rance from the guilt and dominion of sin, should 
be accompanied with watching unto prayer for 
assisting grace, with all perseverance, and that 
a belief of the doctrine of the perseverance of 
the saints, will save no one without actually 
persevering in the Christian course of obedience. 
He should recollect that he is in an enemy's 
country, that if left to himself he is unstable 
as water, that he is every moment in danger 
of backsliding, of grieving the Spirit of God, 
and wounding his own soul. He may profita- 
bly call to mind, that many high sounding pro- 
fessors have been apostatized to their eternal 
ruin, and that he has no certainty of being- 
chosen to eternal life, or of enjoying future 
happiness, but by persevering in the way of 
holy obedience, — for Christ is become the 
author of eternal salvation to them who obey 
hiim and to them only : " Be thou faithful 
tin to death, and I will give thee a crown of 
life." While he is often reminded of his own 
weakness, he is as often directed to the strong 



sect. iv. Concerning Good Works, l67 

for strength, to be obtained in the way of duty. 
This is the true Christian : he has been con- 
vinced of sin by the law of God, which is holy, 
just and good ; he has confided in the merits 
and righteousness of Christ; old sinful courses 
and habits are past away, and the whole soul 
in its views, its judgment, conclusions, and the 
direction of its passions, is become new ; he 
trusts in Christ Jesus, having no confidence in 
the flesh, and loves him in sincerity ; he casts 
off the works of darkness, and puts on the 
armour of light, walking honestly and decently 
as in the day, forgetting past attainments, so 
as not to trust in them, he presses forward to 
the prize of his high calling; he sincerely 
endeavours to do all things, whatsoever Christ 
has commanded, and by gracious encourage- 
ments, has an eye to the recompence of reward. 
But after all, he reckons himself an unprofitable 
servant. He renounces all merit and worthiness 
of his own, rejoicing only in Christ Jesus, the 
Mediator and Surety of the new covenant ; that 
covenant which is ordered in all things and sure. 
Standing by faith on the rock of ages, he re- 
joices in hope of the glory of God, but with 
holy fear and trembling, while contemplating 
his own weakness and insufficiency, or if dealt 
with in strict justice, according to his hourly 
failures. £< Shouklest thou, Lord, mark iniquity^ 



168 Modern Calvinism Defended. err. iu 



O Lord, who shall stand ? But with thee there 
is forgiveness, that thou mayest be feared." 
" Hold thou me up, and I shall he safe." 

§■11. I make no apology to the reader 
for dwelling so much upon this point; especi- 
ally as his Lordship gives a very different 
account of Calvinism. And as he is pleased 
to say, that those who are called Evangelical 
ministers £ not only delude their unlearned 
' congregations, and encourage vice and immo- 
' rality among their followers, but they really 
- delude themselves, and fall into opinions and 
c assertions totally inconsistent with the spirit 
' of our holy religion,' — that 6 the manner in 
6 which they perform the duties of their minis- 
c try, both public and private, is injudicious 
6 and mischievous in the extreme,' — and that 
6 the dangerous tendency of their tenets and 
f practice cannot be exposed too frequently, or 
c with too much earnestness,' — it seemed requi- 
site to give the reader an opportunity to form 
' his own judgment, which of the two methods 
is most conformable to the sacred oracles, 
and most conducive to the interests of real 

Christianity 
./ 

§ 12. His Lordship dwells much on the 
importance of " Good Works," and of the Clergy 



sect. iv. Concerning Good Works. 169 

insisting upon them as the condition of our 
salvation. Certainly good works are very good 
things ; but among what congregations are they 
actually found to the greatest extent, and in 
the greatest variety ? If those of the Evangelical 
Clergy be candidly compared with those of the 
gentlemen whom his Lordship defends in oppo- 
sition to them, they need not shrink at the 
comparison. Where shall we find most devotion, 
punctuality in attending divine ordinances, family 
worship, catechising the young and ignorant, 
visiting the poor, the widow and the fatherless, 
abstinence from the schools of levity and vice, 
charitable contributions, reformation of manners, 
order in society, and an awakening concern to 
work out their own salvation with fear and 
tremblins;? If their hearers be more inclined to 
frequent circles of dissipation and folly, the 
card table, the ball, the assembly, the play, the 
opera, or the horse-race ; if they are more addicted 
to the jovial board, or the deceitful glass, to 
delight in theatrical exhibitions, novels and 
romances, to frequent political clubs and spout- 
ing societies, to utter profane oaths, and on 
trivial occasions to take the most holy name in 
vain; if they are more given to pursue their 
diversions on the Lord's day, or less conscientious 
in keeping it holy in religous exercises ; if they 
are more lax in observing the relative duties of 



1?0 Modern Calvinism Defended. €h. eI, 



parents and children, masters and servants ; if 
they are more cruel to men or brutes, or less 
chaste and temperate, honest and industrious — 
let them b}' all means be condemned in the 
comparison. If otherwise, the following ad- 
monition may be seasonably remembered ; 
u Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
neighbour/' 



Chap. III. 



AVOWED SENTIMENTS OF THE BISHOP ON REDEMPTION, 
AND PREDESTINATION, EXAMINED. 

Sect. I. 

The Bishop's avowed Sentiments on Redemption, 
examined. 

§1,2. The subject stated. 

\ 3. The revealed character of God. § 4, 5. The actual state of 
mankind. ^ 6. A revelation of the divine character to sinners. 
^ 7. Though under no obligation injustice, it became his mercy 
to do this, 8. The foundation of the gospel call. § 9. What 
is required of the sinner. § 10. God's right to influence the 
heart. $ 11. The exercise of this right, no hardship upon any. 

12, 13. The grounds of obligation to obey the gospel. ^ 14 — 
16. This point further discussed. 

§ 17. The price of Redemption. § 18. Redemption itself. $ 19. 
The design of God in the sacrifice of Christ. ^ 20. As a 
Governor ; and § 21. As a Sovereign. § 22. Though thii 
price is an adequate basis of reconciliation ; yet ^ 23. None 
will be reconciled to God until they are divinely influenced. 

$ 24. Calvin's view of Redemption. $ 25. That the benefits of 
Christ's passion extend to the whole human race ; and § 26. That 
every man is enabled to attain salvation, examined. § 27 — 28* 
That the remedy is of equal extent with the evil, examined. 

§ 1. XJnder this head we are taught by his 
Lordship, that the benefits of Christ's passion 
extend to the whole human race — and that uni- 
versal righteousness and pardon are the effects of 
Christ's obedience. As most terms are capable 
of different acceptations, as already shewn under 



172 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



the foregoing discussion, according to the con- 
nexion in which they stand, it is not my present 
design so much to controvert the use of the 
general expressions 1 the whole human race,' and 
6 universal righteousness and pardon,' as to 
examine the sentiment intended to he conveved 
by them in their present situation. For this 
purpose, it will be proper to produce the passages 
themselves. ' The doctrine of universal Re- 

* demption, namely, that the benefits of Christ's 

* passion extends to the whole human race ; or, 
< that every man is enabled to attain salvation 
i through the merits of Christ, was directly 
6 opposed by Calvin", who maintained, that 
4 God from all eternity decreed that certain 
- individuals of the human race should be saved, 
4 and that the rest of mankind should perish 
' everlastingly, without the possibility of attaining 
4 salvation.'* Again, \ It is natural to conclude, 
i that the remedy, proposed by a Being of infinite 
6 power and mercy, would be commensurate to 
' the evil ; and therefore as the evil operated 
1 instantly in producing the corruption of 
' Adam's nature, which was soon transmitted to 
e his offspring, we may infer that all, who were 
e to partake of that corrupt nature, were to 
1 partake also of the appointed remedy. — AH 

* nations of the earth, past, present, and to come, 



* Refut. p. 184* 



sect. i. On Redemption, 173 

* without any exception or limitation, shall be 
c blessed in the promised Messiah, that is, for 

* his sake, and through his mediation.' 5 * — ' Uni- 

* versal sin and condemnation were the conse- 

* quence of Adam's disobedience, and universal 
' righteousness and pardon the effect of Christ's 
4 obedience.'f 

§ 2. A great number of passages are also 
introduced to prove, that 6 in the New Testament, 
; every expression which can denote universality 

* is applied to the merits and sacrifice of Christ. 'J 
This is readily admitted, — but the interpretation 
of them , must be such as not to contradict, but 
to harmonize with other passages equally plain, 
and with the general tenor of scripture : for 
as we believe that " all scripture is given by 
inspiration of God/" we must admit that there is 
a perfect agreement between the parts, without 
any real discrepancy of meaning, while it is 
equally certain, that there is in reality a harmo- 
nizing principle. I shall, therefore, in the first 
place, produce what appears to me to possess 
that character; and, in the next place, examine 
his Lordship s declarations on the subject. 

§ 3. In my apprehension, the harmonizing 
principle is found in the revealed character of God, 



* R«fut. p, 185. 186, f lb. p. 189. J lb. p, 187. 



174 Modern Calvinism Defended, ci-r. ni„ 

in connexion with the actual state of mankind. 
Without just views of these two points properly 
compared, we are always in danger of verging 
to opposite extremes, and of losing sight of the 
" golden mean." Now the revealed character 
of God, in reference to mankind, is that of a 
gracious sovereign, on the one hand ; and that 
of an equitable governor, on the other. Both 
these are alike essential. According to the 
former, " he worketh all things," worthy of him, 
f ' according to the counsel of his own will," he 
creates, preserves, new-creates, adorns, and 
glorifies ; all which are worthy of his goodness, 
wisdom and mercy. According to the latter, 
he rules in righteousness, and does nothing but 
what is right : his laws are holy, the obligation 
of conformity to them is founded in equity and 
truth. The physical powers of man are adequate 
to what is required, if properly employed ; and 
when not so employed, the fault is exclusively 
in himself. 

§ 4. The next thing to be considered, is the 
actual state of mankind. With all Christians, 
who hold the necessity of Redemption by a 
mediator, it is an acknowledged fact, that man- 
kind are in a state of apostacy, or, that " man is 
very far gone from original righteousness f and, 
inconsequence of this apostacy, that "man is 
of his own nature inclined to evil," But no 



>ect. I. On Redemption. % 17 O 

defection or infection of our nature, deprives man 
either of bis physical powers, or of his uncon- 
trolled freedom to act according to the dictates 
of his own mind : and the obligation to act 
aright, therefore, continues unimparecL Were 
it possible for apostacy from rectitude to exone- 
rate man from obligation, this most absurd con- 
sequence would follow, viz. that a creature could 
at any time by an act of rebellion render himself 
lawless, or, " without law to God f and, of course, 
place himself beyond the bounds of divine juris- 
diction! 

§ 5. Notwithstanding the sinfulness of man- 
kind, they have a capability of enjoying the 
chief good, God all-sufficient ; and they continue 
under obligation to seek that good. Possessed 
of understanding and free will, they are bound 
to choose the best object within the circle of 
their knowledge, adapted to promote their mora! 
improvement and future happiness. But as man 
could never possibly recover his original righ- 
teousness, any more than he could recall a past 
transaction, and the sanction of the law con- 
tinued in force— hence the necessity of a sub- 
stitute in a plan of redeeming mercy. As the 
Equitable Governor required his law and govern- 
ment to be respected and honoured, without 
which they must be regarded as unmeaning cy- 
phers ; the Gracious Sovereign found a method of 



176 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

effecting this by a wonderful substitution. "What 
the law could not do, in that it was weak through 
the Jiesh " (i. e. incapable of effecting, on account 
of our depraved state,) " God, sending his own 
son in the likeness of sinful flesh," (i. c. such 
likeness as was needful for a substitute) " and 
for sin," (i. e. a sin-offering) " condemned sin in 
the flesh ;" (i. e. made satisfaction to justice, in 
our nature :) " that the righteousness of the 
law" (i. e. what the law required, whether moral 
or ceremonial, as the ground of imputation,) 
" might be fulfilled in us :" by our appropriation 
of it on the terms proposed for justification. 
And the proper evidence, the genuine fruit of 
such privilege, is " walking not after the flesh 
but after the spirit.."* 

§ 6. Men after the fall, became vain in their 
imaginations, giving themselves up to sinful 
indigencies and idolatry. Hence God raised 
up witnesses, to testify his abhorrence of their 
crimes, and their desert of punishment, accom- 
panied with exhibitions of mercy, in virtue of 
the great atonement to the penitent and believing. 
The requisitions of the supreme ruler of men 
were inculcated, the sanctions of his govern- 
ment were adapted to their circumstances, and 
preachers of righteousness were invested with 



* Rom. Yiii. 3, 4. 



sect, t; On Redemption. 177 

his authority, and " moved by the Holy Ghost," 
to proclaim his righteous and gracious will. The 
settled plan of redemption was gradually re- 
vealed, until by the apostles it was set in the 
light of open day. Now, the whole of that 
revelation which was intended for the use of 
future ages, is contained in the canonical 
books of the Old and New Testament, which 
a gracious providence has wonderfully pre- 
served. 

^ 7. Though God was under no antecedent 
obligation in justice, as the equitable Governor, 
to give mankind a revelation of his will, or to 
form a plan of redemption ; yet, having formed 
such plan as a gracious Sovereign, it became his 
wisdom and mercy to announce it. Therefore 
" God, who at sundry times, and in divers 
manners, spake in time past unto the fathers 
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken 
unto us by his Son."* This great salvation " at 
the first began to be spoken by the Lord," but 
afterwards " was confirmed by them that heard 
him ; God also bearing them witness, both with 
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, 
and gifts of the- Holy Ghost, according to his 
own wilh"t And now the gospel of salvation, 
the message of reconciliation from God to 



* Heb. i. 1,2. 



f Heb. ii. 3, 4. 

N 



178 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

man, is commanded to be proclaimed " to all 
nations" for the obedience of faith. 

§ 8. The foundation of the gospel call to 
evangelical repentance for the remission of 
sins, and to cordial faith in Christ for justifica- 
tion, is " Jesus Christ, and him crucified ;" 
" who was made sin*' (i. e. a sin offering) "for 
us, that we might be made the righteousness of 
God" (i. e. constituted righteous by the righte- 
ousness which God has provided) "in him" 
who is " the Lord our righteousness." This 
message of reconciliation, " to wit, that God 
was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, 
without imputing their trespasses unto them," 
was the great means of conversion in the 
apostolic days, and has been ever since. By 
this, " God caused them to triumph in every 
place." It is a message worthy of God; of 
sovereign (i. e. arbitrary) grace, in its provision; 
and of his equitable government, in the manner 
of dispensing it. 

§ 9. Man, in every stage of his existence, 
being indispensably obliged to obey the call of 
God, who is incapable of proposing inequitable 
terms of compliance, requires of every one to 
whom the message is addressed, unreserved 
submission ; " to shake off his sins by repent- 
ance," with the promise of pardon, and to 



sect. i. On Redemption. 179 

" submit to the righteousness of God" by faith 
for acceptance : and as mankind are already 
under the sentence of condemnation for the 
breach of divine law, both as a covenant and as 
a rule ; by their refusal of the appointed plan 
of mercy, their condemnation is not only con- 
firmed, but also aggravated. " This is the con- 
demnation, that light is come into the world, 
and men loved darkness rather than light." 

§ 10. Notwithstanding this general pro- 
vision, God has not relinquished his right of 
access to the human heart, " to turn it as 
rivulets of water."* He can make it hunger 
and thirst after righteousness, and direct it to 
himself as the source of its happiness, while 
the will is left perfectly free in its choice. 
Though man in his sinful depravity has no 
claim upon God for any supernatural influence, 
God must relinquish his essential character of 
a gracious sovereign, before he can give up his 
right of influencing the hearts of men, under 
the direction of infinite wisdom. He is gra- 
cious and merciful in proposing conditions so 
advantageous to the fallen creature; and who 
shall say to him " What doest thou?" if he 
proceed still further with some, and open their 
hearts, and shine into their minds, and implant 
in them the spirit of faith ? How can he, in 
this, be unjust to others, while all are under 



180 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

the same condemnation? Has he not a sove- 
reign (or arbitrary) right to confer his favours 
on whom he pleases, when all alike are destitute 
of just claim? 

§ 11. If it be urged, that this distinction in 
favour of some bears hard upon others, I ask, 
how, and why ? There would be some force in 
the objection, if they were willing to comply 
with the terms proposed, and God unwilling : 
but if he is infinitely gracious and sincere in 
the terms proposed, and urges them with pro- 
mises " exceeding great and precious if he 
puts no hindrance of any kind in the way, but 
removes innumerable stumbling-blocks and dif- 
ficulties; "are not his ways equal, and their 
ways unequal?" May he not say to them, as he 
said of old to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and 
the men of Judah, " Judge, I pray you, be- 
twixt me and my vineyard. What could have 
been done more to my vineyard, that I have 
not done in it? wherefore when I looked that 
it should bring - forth grapes, brought it forth 
wild grapes?"* No one can question that it 
was in the right and power of a gracious sove- 
reign, to take away from that people " the 
heart of stone, and to give them a heart of 
flesh" — to " put his fear in their hearts" and 



* Isa. v. 4. 



sect. I. On Redemption. 181 

" his Holy Spirit within them," that they 
might " not depart from him " — without de- 
priving him of his essential character of supreme 
Benefactor. Yet this did not exculpate them, 
because they had every requisite to constitute 
their obligation to comply; — otherwise, what 
meaning can there be in those and similar 
expostulations? To suppose that the restoration 
of a spiritual principle, once possessed, but 
since forfeited and lost, is the basis of moral 
obligation, is a sentiment fraught with endless 
absurdities, — though this, however, is not the 
place, to point them out. 

§ 12. Every one to whom the gospel is 
addressed is under obligation to seek the bles- 
sings it proposes, as well as to obey the pre- 
cepts it contains ; — such as, remission of sin, 
by repentance; acceptance into divine favour, 
by faith ; gracious assistance, by prayer ; holy 
conformity to Jesus Christ, by the use of all 
appointed means ; and everlasting life, by walk- 
ing in the ways of wisdom and universal 
obedience. These blessings flow through Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified. And were there no 
sense in which Christ " gave himself a ransom" 
for all those who are morally obliged to seek 
these blessings for his sake, I acknowledge 
that there would not be an adequate basis for 
their obligation to do so. If Jesus Christ, m 



182 



Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. hi. 



no sense, lived and died for their sake, how 
can they be obliged to seek these blessings for 
his mediation sake ? Without adequate means, 
or objective sufficiency of merit, ready to be 
laid to their account'on compliance, how could 
they be consistently exhorted to seek them? — 
since it is unworthy of God to propose to them, 
on any terms, what was in no sense intended 
for them. It is idle to say, that they are 
obliged to obey the command of God, until 
it can be shewn that he requires men to be- 
lieve a falsehood. I know it has been observed, 
that God requires no man to believe that Christ 
died for him, in particular ; but for sinners. 
But if he died for sinners indefinitely, is not 
each individual included in that indefinite num- 
ber? And if by "sinners" be meant a definite 
number, how can every sinner to whom the 
gospel comes, be laid under an indefinite obli- 
gation, to seek these blessings for the sake of 
what Christ has done and suffered? 

§ 13. These considerations, among many 
others, constrain me to regard the blessed 
Saviour, in the whole of his mediatorial under- 
taking, as the great ordinance of God, pro- 
posed to mankind without limitation, for the 
sake of whom they are encouraged to seek all 
the blessings they require. If they need an aton- 
ing sacrifice, a justifying righteousness, in short, 



sect. I. On Redemption. 183 

a perfect meritorious character as their substi- 
tute ; these blessings are proposed to the destitute 
sinners indefinitely, and consequently to them. 
If it be said, that the proposal is made to those 
who feel their need, and on this condition, if 
they experience their case to be miserable, and 
sincerely desjre to obtain the blessing : it is 
granted, that there are special encouragements 
to such characters, — as in our Lord's sermon on 
the mount : but how can others be threatened 
for rejecting what was never, in any sense, 
intended for them ? If it be again urged, that 
no sinner knows but that Christ died for him, 
or, does not know but he is included in the 
atonement made; I reply, does God require the 
ignorance of his creatures as the basis of his 
government? or, is it worthy of his character 
to make it the ground of human obligation ? 

§ 14. The question is not, whether special 
promises are made to persons under certain 
gracious exercises of mind; but whether any 
impenitent and unbelieving persons are con- 
demned, fmally condemned, for not accepting 
what God graciously offers, or seeking to ob- 
tain gospel blessings, through the mediation 
and meritorious sufferings of Christ. If none 
were, in any sense, designed for those who 
eventually perish, how can they be said to 
reject them ? Or, how can they be condemned 



184 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi* 



for not seeking an impossibility, — and an im- 
possibility too, founded in the appointment 
of God, and not. merely in their own im- 
potence? 

.§ 15. The atoning sacrifice of Christ, his 
sufferings, bloodshedding, and death, make a 
very prominent part of the apostolic writings. 
These being the substance and reality, to which 
all the typical sacrifices under the Old Testa- 
ment dispensation referred, nothing could be 
more proper and important, than the stress laid 
upon them by the apostles. But surely, the 
Redeemer's incarnation and obedience, without 
which there could have been no atoning sacri- 
fice, must be equally important and necessary in 
themselves, nor indeed can I perceive any good 
reason, why every part of the Saviour's under- 
taking should not be considered as equally 
essential to our Redemption; — and I would 
humbly propose it to consideration, whether 
every part of his substitution be not of the 
same character and extent? Why should one 
part be more limited than another? If his death 
be limited, why not his obedience and incar- 
nation? If he assumed the nature of mankind 
indefinitely, why not their sorrows ? If he obeyed 
the law without limitation, why not suffer the 
penalty threatened by it, to an equal extent? 
And if his mediatorial obedience unto death, 



sect, u On Redemption. 185 

being of infinite worth, admitted of no increase 
or diminution ; on what principle can we say, 
that the atoning merits admitted of any ? Is it 
conceivable, that by a supposed increase or 
diminution of objects ultimately saved, his incar- 
nation, conformity to the law, or suffering at 
the hand of justice, could have been otherwise, 
than they were ? Can we, even in thought, 
add to, or diminish from 'infinite worth ? 

§ 16. It has been said, that the sacrifice of 
Christ is sufficient for all, had it been the 
design of God to include them. Is not this, 
however, a virtual acknowledgement, that the 
limitation is not in the sacrifice itself, but in 
the objects ? If the atoning sacrifice were even 
capable of any diminution or limitation, for that 
very reason it would not be commensurate to 
the demands of justice, and infinite perfection. 
•What law and justice required was a person of 
infinite worth in human nature, and that nature 
to become a sacrifice without spot or blemish ; 
less was not sufficient, and more was not 
necessary, — irrespective* entirely of the number 
of objects. As the sun is neither diminished 
nor increased on account of the blindness or 
the sight, the increase or diminution, of terres- 
trial inhabitants; so the sun of righteousness, 
in his incarnation, obedience, sufferings, merits, 
atonement, righteousness, and federal perfec- 



186 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

tion, knows no diminution and increase, on 
account of the objects, as either many or few, 
who are ultimately benefited by him. To suppose 
that the design of God respecting a limited 
number, who shall be finally happy, can alter 
the nature of the sacrifice itself, or even the 
extent of its intrinsic efficacy, seems highly 
derogatory both to God and the Redeemer. 

§ 17. It does not appear to me, that we 
are authorized by scripture to regard the sacri- 
fice of Christ as our redemption itself, so much 
as that by which we have redemption; or, with 
which we are, or may be redeemed. It is the 
meritorious cause, the grand means, the inesti- 
mable price, and the divine foundation of our 
Redemption. And so are his incarnation, and 
his perfect obedience, as well as his death. It 
is that without which there was" no remission, 
no justification, no eternal salvation. It is a 
foundation of infinite worth, and of unbounded 
extent, both in itself considered, and as the 
medium of moral government conducted by a 
merciful sovereign and an equitable ruler and 
judge. 

§ 18. Redemption, properly speaking, and 
in scripture usage, is deliverance from some- 
thing, which must needs be effected by some 
meam. Thus Israel was redeemed from Egyp- 



sect. I. On Redemption. 187 

tian bondage by miraculous, power; the cap- 
tive is released from confinement by price, ex- 
change, or force : and the church of Christ is 
redeemed from all evil, guilt, sin, satan, and 
hell, by the acts of Christ, his federal engage- 
ment, incarnation, spotless obedience, his vo- 
luntary sufferings, bloodshedding, death, resur- 
rection, ascension, intercession, the power of 
his Spirit, and his mighty energy at the resur- 
rection. The price, or meritorious cause, was 
his humiliation ; by virtue of which, in his 
exalted state, he actually redeems by his power. 
And all the members of -his mystical bodv, from 
the beginning, were redeemed by divine power 
on the credit of that humiliation unto death of 
the promised Messiah. No sinner, therefore, 
can be properly said to be redeemed until he is 
personally delivered from some enemy or evil, 
by the interposition of an adequate price, and 
the exertion of an adequate power. Price 
without power, is but a preparation, provision, 
or means, without any effect or saving benefit ; 
and power without a price, is not worthy of 
justice or wisdom, the holiness of God's nature 
or the honour of his moral government. 

§ 19. Here it is proper to notice the design 
of God in the appointment of an atoning sacri- 
fice. And for illustrating this important point, 
it appears to me of great use to recollect the 



188 Modern Calvinism Defended. ck. hi. 



twofold character of God, that of an equitable 
governor, and that of an arbitrary dispenser of 
benefits; in other words, a Judge and a Sove- 
reign. In both characters God is supreme ; 
having none above him, in whatever capacity 
he acts. The reader therefore should be aware, 
that I do not use the terms sovereign and sove- 
reignty, as synonymous with supreme and su- 
premacy. In all my discussions on these sub- 
jects, I consider sovereignty, when applied to 
the supreme Being, as expressive of the arbi- 
trary pleasure of a benefactor ; because in no, 
other capacity can he exercise arbitrary plea- 
sure. He is supreme in the exercise of his 
justice, in judgments and punishments ; but not 
arbitrary, or without a just cause, or demerit in 
the object. When he acts as supreme ruler 
and judge, his proceedings are founded in 
equity ; but when he acts as a sovereign, his 
proceedings are founded in favour, dispensed 
with wisdom. 

§ 20. As it is evident from the whole tenor 
of scripture, and from the nature of the case, 
that God acts in these twofold characters 
towards his rational creatures; it follows, that 
it is worthy of him to have corresponding de- 
signs. Let us apply this to the mediation of 
Christ, and the price of Redemption. As a 
Governor, I humbly conceive, his design m 



sect. i. On Redemption. 1 89 

this great and glorious medium of happiness, 
was to lay an adequate foundation for every 
human subject of his government, on which he 
may hope for the favour of God ; and on which 
he may seek remission of sin, justification, holi- 
ness, happiness, — in one word salvation, on the 
terms prescribed; terms worthy of God and 
our rational nature. But on the rejection or 
neglect of these terms, the sinner has no one 
to blame but himself, and the supreme ruler 
will appear clear and glorious when he judges 
and condemns him for neglecting so great 
salvation, 

§ 21. But when we consider the design of 
God in the character of a Sovereign, we may 
regard the same object, the invaluable price of 
redemption, as an adequate foundation for actu- 
ally redeeming from all evil those who are 
eventually saved ; and for imparting to them 
the influence of the Spirit, whereby they comply 
with the terms proposed, and enjoy the pro- 
mised blessings. As God does nothing without 
design, and without an adequate ground for it ; 
and as forming a vital union with Christ, a 
spiritual renovation by the Holy Spirit, up- 
holding the soul in the midst of temptations 
and formidable dangers, and finally investing 
soul and body with eternal life and glory, are 
the acts of his sovereign pleasure ; his design. 



190 Modern Calvinism Defended. cn. hi. 

I apprehend, in substituting the atoning sacri- 
fice, was to lay a suitable basis for these acts. 

§ 22. Thus the atoning sacrifice is one, 
unchangeably the same. In whatever light 
we consider the divine character, compared 
with the actual state of mankind, it is an ade- 
quate basis of reconciliation, and of the divine 
proceedings towards them. Viewing them as 
morally free, and accountable agents, what can 
be desired by them more suitable to their 
wants? Through this medium they are encou- 
raged, invited, requested, commanded with 
awful denunciations, to seek pardon and peace, 
grace and glory, by compliance with the most 
reasonable terms — by casting away the arms of 
rebellion, by penitential submission, by cordial 
belief in the divine testimony concerning Christ, 
by returning to their allegiance, and by re- 
signing themselves to the direction and govern- 
ment of him who has all power in heaven and 
earth. " This is my beloved Son, in w r hom I 
am well pleased, hear ye him." But, he who 
obeyeth not the voice of this prophet shall be 
condemned and cut off. "These mine enemies 
who would not that I should rule over them, 
bring them hither, and slay them before me." 

§ 23. But it is a humbling and awful fact, 
that man is not only " far gone from original 



sect. i. On Redemption. IQ\ 

righteousness," but also of his own fallen na- 
ture is " inclined to evil." He has a carnal 
mind, and " the carnal mind is enmity with 
God." He is " not inclined " to deny himself, 
to take up his cross and follow Christ, to 
pluck out the righ| eye, and cut off the right 
hand. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the 
eye, and the pride of life, reign over him. 
But shall the want of inclination, a good will, 
and a ready mind in man, render the sacrifice 
of Christ of no effect? God forbid. As a sove- 
reign he had a design in laying such a wonder- 
ful and glorious foundation, which no blindness, 
enmity, pride, or wickedness of mankind should 
frustrate. The sacrifice of Christ shall become 
the foundation of triumphant grace. For the 
sake of it, the Redeemer u shall see his seed, 
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in 
his hands." A goodly multitude shall be "made 
willing in the day of his power." He will slay 
their enmity by spiritually uniting them to him- 
self, and at the same time constitute them 
righteous. They shall submit themselves be- 
fore him, deny themselv es, ta ke up their cross, 
and follow him. He puts his fear in their 
hearts, draws them with the cords of love., 
and it is "given to them, on the behalf of 
Christ, not only to believe on him, but also 
to suffer for his sake." ; 



19% Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ill. 

§ 24. Having endeavoured to explain and 
illustrate what I presumed to call " the harmo- 
nizing principle," in reference to the great topic 
of redemption, I will now advert to his Lord- 
ship's declarations on the subject. It is as- 
serted, in the first place, that 6 the doctrine of 
' universal redemption — was directly opposed 
1 by Calvin/ His Lordship I hope will excuse 
me for asserting, in return, that this eminent 
reformer did not 6 directly' oppose the doctrine 
of universal redemption, in the sense now ex- 
plained, as far as I have been able to collect 
by a frequent search into his voluminous 
writings. He admitted a universal price of 
redemption ; but he had reasons innumerable 
against the notion of an actual redemption of 
all men from sin and misery. He maintained 
that the remedy was universal, and that it was 
universally proposed to mankind, according to 
God's rectoral design ; but not that it was the 
sovereign design of God by it to make man- 
kind universally and indiscriminately submis- 
sive, and compliant with the terms on which 
the blessings resulting from it were to be 
enjoyed. Had this been his design, not one of 
the human race could perish; for " who hath 
resisted his will?" If God were to design this, 
and to exert his power on the heart accord- 
ingly, who could prevent him ? What Calvin's 



sect. I. On Redemption. 193 

ill digested reprobating decree implied indi- 
rectly, is another consideration. 

§ £5. Calvin, however, certainly did e op- 
pose' his Lordship's notion of universal redemp- 
tion, — which we now proceed to examine. The 
explanatory clauses, indicating w T hat was in- 
tended by the phrase " universal redemption,'* 
are these : ' namely, that the benefits of Christ's 
4 passion extend to the whole human race ; or, 
' that every man is enabled to attain salvation 
c through the merits of Christ.' If by £ the 
c benefits' be meant some benefits, what Calvi- 
nist, ancient or modern, ever denied it? But 
if by ' the benefits ' be meant all the benefits of 
Christ's passion, surely his Lordship will not 
deliberately maintain it, as it is 4 directly op- 
' posed/ by obvious innumerable facts. For 
instance, a clean heart, a right spirit, justifi- 
cation, adoption, divine love shed abroad in 
the heart, being kept by divine power through 
faith unto salvation, an introduction to the 
heavenly Jerusalem, a glorious resurrection, and 
eternal life, — all these are benefits of Christ's 
passion ; but are they extended to 6 the whole 
' human race ?' If it be said that they are ex- 
tended conditionally, proposed objectively, or 
in such a manner that all may obtain them, 
were it not for their own fault; this I have 
already admitted. But such is the present state 

o 



194 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



of mankind, that were there no absolute, as well 
as conditional benefits, it is possible, that not 
one human being would in fact be finally saved. 
With his Lordship's notion of free will as going 
before, and turning the balance in every in- 
stance, while human nature is " inclined to 
evil," even in his own sense of this phrase, 
where lies the probability, much less the cer- 
tainty, of the final salvation of any individual ? 
It is of no use to contend, that God will assist 
mankind if they will faithfully employ the 
powers and talents with which they are 
entrusted, without producing the evidence of 
probability, at least, that they will do this. 
But was it worthy of divine wisdom to prepare 
a kingdom of eternal glory on the precarious 
basis of free will exclusively, — on a bare per- 
adventure that some would surmount their 
native depravity, and thus prepare the way 
for obtaining efficacious grace ? That mankind 
ought to improve their powers and means, is 
one thing ; but that any will do so, without 
the internal, efficacious grace of Christ ( going 
c before to give them a good will, ' is quite 
another. 

§ %6. It is again included in his Lordships 
notion of universal redemption, f that every 
* man is enabled to attain salvation through the 
6 merits of Christ/ What is the precise import 



sect. I, On Redemption,. 195 

of the word i enabled ' in. this connexion? If 
it be, that the merits of Christ not only con- 
stitute an adequate provision, but also that they 
are placed within the attainment of every man 
for his salvation, if it be not his own fault, this 
is not denied by modern Calvinists, but fully 
admitted. This, however, is a very unusual 
acceptation of the term ; nor in fact, does the 
use of it in this, appear more appropriate than 
in the following connexions: a man is 'enabled* 
to • feed himself and grow healthy, because he 
has an invitation to an entertainment, and free 
access, if he please : or, a man is 6 enabled ' to 
paint a good likeness, because he is presented 
with all the requisite materials. If, however, 
the meaning be* that every man is endowed with 
a suitable disposition, or the requisite ability 
in point of inclination to good, where is the 
evidence for such an assumption? If every one 
be thus well inclined, how comes it to pass 
that every one does not attain the salvation 
set before him? Doubtless 1 every man ' has 
physical powers, adequate to the attainment, 
and these he has from the bounty of the Crea- 
tor : but is ' every man ' so ' enabled ' as to 
have " the thoughts and desires of his heart 
cleansed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?" 
Or is there any sufficient evidence to prove, 
that any man, since the beginning of time, 
attained salvation without it r Did ever any man 



196 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iif. 



sincerely desire, and- earnestly seek the bles- 
sings of salvation, through the merits of Christ, 
in God's own way, and on his appointed terms, 
who was not thus ' enabled ' to do so? If these 
questions could be answered, and proved in the 
affirmative, something to good purpose might 
be effected against the Calvinists. 

§ 27. If a modern Calvinist uses the terms 
" possibility " or " impossibility," in reference 
to the attainment of salvation, we should not 
immediately infer that a decree of prevention 
is implied. The actual state of man forms the 
barrier. That Calvin's notion of a reprobating 
decree was an unfounded conclusion, will be 
noticed under the next subject of examination. 
We are now to advert to his Lordship's remain- 
ing argument in favour of universal redemption, 
in his sense of the term, founded on a compa- 
rison between the extent of the evil and the 
supposed extent of the remedy. If this argu- 
ment prove any thing, it renders itself useless 
by proving too much, on the one Hand, and by 
opposing plain fact on the other. The evil 
consisted not only in guilt incurred, which 
might be removed by righteousness ; but in 
great depravity. If therefore the remedy were 
i commensurate to the evil,' all that depravity 
which was introduced, ought also to be re- 
moved. But this proves more than his Lord- 



sect. i. On Redemption. 197 

ship can intend ; and, in reality, forms a con- 
tradiction; for it would be the same as to pre- 
vent that evil which at the same time is sup- 
posed to exist. The argument also militates 
against plain revealed and experienced facts ; 
for much of the evil introduced by Adam's 
delinquency, continues from age to age, and 
will continue for ever. 

§ 28. If the meaning be, that the remedy 
e proposed, ' though not applied, may be ex- 
pected from ' a Being of infinite power and 
* mercy,' to be i commensurate to the evil 
it appears from the preceding pages, that this 
is not disputed ; and modern Calvinists, both 
in the church of England and out of it, give 
the most cogent proof of this as their prevail- 
ing sentiment, by taking a very active part, in 
sending missionaries and bibles to every quarter 
of the globe. As the evil is universal, they 
endeavour, according to the will of God, that 
the 6 proposed ' remedy should be equally un- 
limited, — that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached among all nations, in the 
name, and through the merits, of Jesus Christ : 
but alas how few receive the message ; for 
" darkness hath covered the earth, and gross 
darkness the people." Were the influence of 
the Holy Spirit, however, which is an important 
part of the remedy, conferred upon every man, 



198 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. in. 



the gospel remedy would experience a far dif- 
ferent reception in the world. That ' a Being 
< of infinite power and mercy' could effect this, 
as that he could send his Son into the world 
to become a sacrifice for sin, and a price of re- 
demption, and could ensure the reception of the 
remedy, and salvation by it, who can doubt? 
But he is a Being of infinite Wisdom and Jus^ 
tice, as well as of Power and Mercy, 



sect. ii« On Predestination and Election. 199 



Sect. II. 

The Bishop's avowed Sentiments on Predestination 
and Election, examined. 

§ 1. The subject stated. 

§ 2 — 4. That Predestination is irreconcilable with divine Goodness 
and Justice, examined. 

^ 5, 6. A reprobating decree is not implied in Non-Election. § S. Nor 
in Pretention, § 9. The Non-predestinated are not denied, re- 
pulsed, or hindered. § 10. Remarks on the term Reprobation. 

4 11 — 13. An enquiry, Why Calvin and some others inferred a decree 
of Reprobation, and Pretention, or Non-Election. 

§ 14, 15. The notion of a voluntary restriction of Prescience > con*- 
sidered. § 16 — 20. Whether there be any other ground of certain 
futurition beside a divine decree, discussed. § 21. Inference* 
from the preceding discussion. § 22 — 25. That we cannot recon- 
cile Prescience with other divine perfections; and § 24. With 
Free-agency, examined. 

§ 25. That the actions of Free-agents are only permitted, examined. 
§ 26,27. His Lordship's account of divine decrees and appoint- 
ments, and of Election, examined, 

§ 1. The remarks made by Ins Lordship 
on the subject under present examination, are 
so numerous, that it is no easy task to reduce 
them to any general heads. However, the most 
prominent are the following : That Predestina- 
tion is irreconcilable with the divine goodness 
and justice- — that absolute election and repro- 
bation are inseparable — that we cannot recon- 
cile prescience with other divine attributes and 
free agency — that the actions of free agents 
are only permitted — that God did appoint the 
power of believing and obeying to all who hear 



200 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. in 



the gospel — but did not appoint that the bene- 
fits of Christ should be enjoyed by some only — ■ 
that the prescience of our being ordained to 
eternal life, is founded on our compliance — 
that the idea of a covenant is inconsistent with 
the Calvinistic system — that there was no dif- 
ference between Judas and the other apostles, 
except good works — that an exhortation to 
walk worthily, is incompatible with certainty 
and salvation — that the general terms of God's 
love, are irreconcilable with his electing some 
and leaving others to perish — that election is 
not confined to those who will actually be 
saved — that to choose in Christ, is to make 
known the gospel of Christ— that the " predes- 
tination " of the 1 7th Article, is God's gracious 
purpose to make a conditional offer of salvation 
to men — and, finally, that Calvinistic Election 
is disclaimed and condemned in the strongest 
terms in the 17th Article. 

§ 2. In the first place, his Lordship sup- 
poses, that predestination is irreconcilable with 
divine goodness and justice. ' I reject the Cal- 
$ vinistic doctrine of Predestination, not because 

* it is incomprehensible, but because I think it 

* irreconcilable with the justice and goodness of 

* God.' # In another place it is said, c It is not 



* Refut. p. 252. 



sect. xi. On Predestination and Election. 201 



* denied that God had a right, founded on the 
i uncontrovertable will of the Creator over his 
' creatures, to consign the far greater part of 
6 men to eternal misery, and to bestow eternal 
€ happiness on a chosen few, although there 
4 'was in themselves no ground whatever for 
( such distinction. — But the question is, whether 

* such a conduct would have been consistent 
6 with infinite justice and infinite mercy/* This 
last quotation appears to me very singular — - 
and very objectionable — as containing the most 
exceptionable part of Hypercalvinism ! That 
must be a very anomalous and strange kind of 
6 right' which is not consistent with i?ifinitc 

justice. If men were consigned to eternal 
misery without desert, and this founded in right, 
what is it but saying that the Creator had a 
right to be unjust ! But if men so consigned, 
deserved it, by previous delinquency, how would 
it be inconsistent with justice? Is it not of the 
essence of justice to give to every one his due? 
To ascribe to the Creator, preserver, and bene- 
factor of his creatures a right, an c arbitrary 9 right, 
of conferring benefits upon them beyond their 
due, is infinitely worthy of him ; but to ascribe 
to him the same right to render the undeserv- 
ing miserable, is to offer him a compliment 
which he must needs reject with infinite disdain, 



* Refut. pp. 258, 259, 



202 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

— a right to be unjust, were he not infinitely 
just; good, and merciful ! 

§ 3. But what is the Predestination of mo- 
dern Calvinists, and how is it irreconcilable with 
the justice and goodness of God? What we 
maintain is, that all mankind are in a state of 
guilt and sinful imbecility — that God foresaw 
this from eternity — that he therefore predesti- 
nated an adequate remedy in the sacrifice of 
Christ — that this should be announced to men, 
as commensurate to the evil. — We further 
maintain that there was not in the present 
state of man any ground of certainty, that 
any one, without preventing gracious influ- 
ence, would avail himself of the proposed 
remedy — and therefore, that God predestinated, 
under the direction of infinite wisdom, to influ- 
ence the hearts of some, i. e. those who are 
finally glorified, to repent, believe, obey, and 
persevere in a holy course, as the way to ever- 
lasting happiness. Heaven is the end, but holy 
obedience .is the way to it. We hold no Pre- 
destination that separates the end and the means. 
We do not presume to conjecture, a priori, who 
are predestinated to eternal life ; but rather infer, 
from the imbecility of man, that if any one is 
penitent, faithful, diligent, persevering, and 
finally glorified, these great effects are from the 
special and distinguishing energy of God ; and 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election, 203 



that whatever he does in time he purposed to 
do from eternity. This is our Predestination. 

§ 4. And what is there in this £ irrecon- 
1 cilable with the justice and goodness of God ?' 
Is it unjust to shew favour to the unworthy? 
We own it is not the proper effect of justice, but 
this is far from implying that it is unjust. 
Mercy, a species of divine goodness, is sove- 
reign ; but to confer a favour arbitrarily, under 
the direction of wisdom, does injury to no one. 
If God were just only, there would be no room 
for mercy. If he had not a right to act the 
part of a sovereign benefactor, there could 
have been no plan of redemption and salvation, 
What is required by justice, is to give to every 
one his due ; but in the plan of redeeming 
mercy, justice is honoured, while " grace reigns 
through righteousness unto eternal life, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord." In this Calvinistic Pre- 
destination, therefore, it is difficult to find even 
the semblance of infringement of either justice 
or goodness. It is not inconsistent with uood- 
?26ss, that some should be made holy and happy, 
who did not. deserve it, nor inconsistent with 
justice, that God should " have mercy on whom 
he will have mere v.'' 

§ 5. In the next place, his Lordship main- 
tains, that absolute election and reprobation are 



204 



Modern Calyinism Defended. gh. hi. 



* inseparable* That Calvin and other eminent 
divines before and after him, have drawn this 
inference is allowed, as their writings testify;— 
and it is equally manifest that their opponents 
have seized the concession with avidity and 
triumph. But if the concession has been erro- 
neously made, which I am fully satisfied was 
the case, and shall endeavour to substantiate ; 
the strongest objection ever made to the doc- 
trine of Calvinistic Election, falls. While a 
decree of Reprobation, Pretention, or Non- 
election, is admitted, as the inseparable conco- 
mitant of a decree of Election, it is not to be 
wondered at that the latter should have so many 
opponents, or that the Bishop of Lincoln should 
be of the number. * If reprobation be unfounded, 
' which some modern Calvinists allow, it follows, 
c upon their own principles, that election is also 
\ unfounded, since the latter cannot exist without 
i the former.'* — ' " So that, says Dr. Whitby, there 
f is no possibility of asserting one of these decrees, 
c without owning the other also ; and so whatso- 
< ever argument holds good against an absolute 
' decree of Reprobation, must certainly destroy 
' the opposite decree of absolute Election." '* 

§ 6. It might appear an adventurous attempt, 
to encounter what Dr. Whitby, and with him 



* Refut. p. 256. 



f lb. p 255. 



sect. ii. 'On Predestination and Election. 20$ 



the Bishop of Lincoln, deem impossible; or to 
assert that " which there is no possibility of 
asserting." But the reader will be pleased to 
recollect, that many things have been for a 
time considered as impossible paradoxes, which 
after all were great truths, and which have been 
fairly demonstrated to be such. For want of 
patient investigation and the use of proper 
means, with which God has furnished us, we 
are too apt to pronounce one thing unfathomable, 
and another impossible to be surmounted, — as 
a person in a labyrinth asserts that • there is no 
possibility ' of his getting out of it. Many, for 
example, throw into the way of truth such a 
stumbling-block as the following : " Let us 
suppose the number of mankind to be two 
millions of men ; if out of these, one million 
only, by the decree of Election, be infallibly 
appointed to eternal life, and these certainly 
and absolutely distinguished from others, not 
only as to their number, but their persons also; 
who can deny, but that one million also, and 
those certain as to their persons, are as abso- 
lutely comprized under the decree of Non-Elec- 
tion or Reprobation, as the others were under 
the decree of Election and Predestination." As 
this argument, borrowed by his Lordship to 
refute Calvinism, contains a summary of many 
scattered objections, I shall now attempt to 
shew its fallacy. 



206 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



§ 7. In the first place, it takes for granted 
what can never be proved, that Non-Election 
implies a decree, Non-Election is a negative 
idea, not electing; but to decree a negation is 
as absurd as to decree nothing, or to decree not- 
to-decrce. The notion of decreeing to permit, 
involves the same absurdity ; for to permit, in 
this connexion, is not to hinder : but to decree 
not-to-hinder, is the same as to decree to-do- 
nothing, or, as before, to decree not-to-decree. 
The fallacy consists in the supposition that Non- 
Election is a positive idea, and therefore requires 
a positive determination, by way of decree. The 
truth of the case is, that on supposition of one 
million being elected to holiness as the means, 
and happiness as the end, the other million is 
not elected to holiness and happiness. These 
two things are as opposite as doing and not 
doing, but to suppose an infinitely perfect 
Being to decree what he does not do, is incom- 
patible ; for it supposes him to decree to do 
what he decrees not to do. It is indeed per- 
fectly scriptural and rational, to say, that what- 
ever is done by an infinitely wise Being, is done 
according to design, an unvarying purpose, 
which is commonly termed a decree ; but what 
meaning can there be in his designing to do 
the contrast to his doing? 



§ 8. The same reasoning is applicable to 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election. 207 



pretention. The mind, without due attention 
to caution, is liable to be deceived by the fallacy 
which attaches a positive idea to the term, or 
the thing intended by it. We are disposed, by 
common associations, to conclude that as to 
pass by is an act of a person, so the object passed 
by requires a designed determination for that 
purpose. But this is a fallacious conclusion. 
When a shepherd, for instance, passes by a 
number of sheep, and fixes upon one, a voluntary 
_ act of choosing that one does not imply another 
voluntary act to pass by the others. He knows 
all alike, and his wisdom suggests the object of 
his choice, and this object he actually chooses ; 
the others he passes by; but what is thus 
expressed by a positive term, implies nothing 
positive with respect to the objects. They are 
no more affected by it, than they are by simple 
knowledge and wisdom. Thus we suppose the 
divine Shepherd of Israel knows all mankind 
with infinite precision. He sees them in a 
wandering and deplorable state ; and as they are 
rational and accountable beings, he pities their 
condition, and makes adequate provision for 
their wants by a Mediator. He causes the 
appointed remedy to be proclaimed as glad 
tidings ; and he orders this gospel of the king- 
dom to be preached to all these creatures, among 
all nations, for the obedience of faith. We also 
suppose, that not one is of himself so inclined 



208 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi* 



to good, as to repent heartily and believe with 
unfeigned faith ; in short that no one is so well 
disposed, in himself considered, as to comply with 
the terms, or conditions proposed, though per- 
fectly equitable and highly advantageous. Hence 
we suppose, that no other mode is left for 
securing a flock of true converts, who will 
devote themselves to God in order to serve him 
in righteousness and true holiness, but those 
whom he draws with the cords of love. His 
wisdom dictates whom to discriminate, though 
alike destitute of claim on his mercy; and, for a 
reason worthy of himself, though to us inscrut- 
able, he effectually renews their hearts, by 
which they are rendered willing and able to 
comply with the terms required. They repent, 
believe, obey, persevere in a holy life, and enter 
into bliss ; blessings which they would never 
have enjoyed if left to themselves, or without 
discriminating mercy. This discriminating 
favour, including the means, as well as the end, 
is divine Election. 

§ 9. Were we to maintain that any are 
denied, repulsed, or any way hindered from parti- 
cipating the same blessings, on their compliance 
with the terms proposed ; there would be indeed 
a just ground of complaint, as it would imply 
a positive act of refusal, in opposition to just 
claim, a claim founded on fulfilling a condition 



SECT. ll< On Predestination and Election. 209 

graciously proposed. But this is not the case ; we 
hold no such opinion. This would be unworthy 
a good, gracious, merciful, and just Being. Even 
for a good desire to be repulsed, involves incom- 
patible ideas; for all good is from God, and 
therefore all good desires: but for an infinite 
good to repel and refuse good, is absurd, All 
the good, the virtue, and the holiness in the 
universe, is from God, ultimately, therefore 
must needs be approved by him. Into our 
notion) therefore, of Pretention and Non- 
Election, nothing positive, in the way of 
resistance, enters; and we suppose that the 
objects who are not elected are no more 
affected by non-election than by mere know- 
ledge, — simplex inteUigentia, qucz ponit nihil 
in esse. 

§ 10. The term Reprobation is more equivo- 
cal, being used in different connexions to denote 
different ideas. Some have used it to signify 
the positive idea of rejection, as an arbitrary act 
of will. Others consider it as synonymous with 
Pretention and Non-Election, — still in the posi- 
tive sense ; and some, as denoting rejection by 
an act of justice : while others make it to signify a 
simple act of disapproval, irrespective of demerit 
The use of words is an arbitrary and often a 
capricious thing ; but not so ideas. The first idea 

p 



210 



Moderx Calvinism Depended, ch. hi. 



appears to me unworthy of the divine character, 
as before explained ; the second has been shewn 
to be a fallacy ; the third indentifies it with an 
exercise of justice; and the fourth makes it an 
act of the same quality with the first, but not 
to the same degree. In no other sense can I 
conceive the phrase ' a decree of reprobation 
admissible, than as i£ denotes a determination 
either to reject unjust claims, or to devote to 
misery persons as wicked, which is the third 
idea, — and to this our opponents can have 
no objectioiie 

§11. Here I would propose, with becoming 
deference, an enquiry, how the celebrated refor- 
mer, Calvin, and many others who hold the 
doctrine of Election, so readily concluded, that 
a decree in favour of some, implied a decree of 
reprobation, in any sense but as an exercise 
of justice towards the wicked. And this I con- 
ceive to be, their assuming as an undoubted 
truth, that there is no other assignable ade- 
quate cause of any event, beside the divine 
will. But when pressed with the striking con- 
sequence of this maxim, that it made God the 
author of sin, they invented the distinction 
between a decree to effect and a decree to per- 
?nit. This, however, was only a verbal subter- 
fuge ; for it still ascribed the cause of sin to 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election. 211 



the decree and will of God. When pressed 
farther on the subject, how it can be worthy 
of an infinitely good and benevolent being to 
permit sin by a decree, they have been found 
to confess, that what is evil in the perpetrator 
is good in the decreer. His end in so doing, 
they have pleaded, is to promote the highest 
ultimate good; but the sinners end is self 
gratification. This mode of reasoning, how- 
ever, can never remove the odium cast upon 
the decreer of evil, by whatever words, or in 
whatever shape, the idea of decree may be 
represented. Much ingenuity and subtlety may 
be shewn in attempting, on that assumption, to 
clear the divine character: but after all, the 
cloud remains ; and on such principles ever will 
remain : and if we are acquainted with none 
better, a modest retractation, and a humble 
acknowledgement of our ignorance, is the most 
pious and becoming conduct. 

§ 12. But, it will be said — by those who 
endeavour to satisfy themselves with the 
notion, that every event, the sinfulness of 
an act not excepted, requires a decree — if we 
reject this principle, we shall be obliged to 
adopt an acknowledged absurdity, L e. that 
there may be an effect without an adequate 
cause. Or must we, it may be asked, admit 
two eternal principles, one good and the other 



212 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. in. 

bad? Certainly not; for this would lead us to 
endless contradictions. The idea of eternal 
evil, is the most senseless of all others; for what 
is evil but a deviation from or a contrast to 
good? Were there not a first absolute good, 
evil would be an utter impossibility. To 
every mind that duly reflects, the notion of 
eternal evil must appear to overturn itself. Is 
there then, it may be further asked, any me- 
dium between this delirium of the Persians 
aud Manichees, and the admission of God's 
decree or fixed purpose as the cause of every 
effect? Is it the human will when human 
actions which God disapproves are in question? 
It is conceded, that there is certainly no human 
action displeasing to God, where the human 
will is not employed: but what disposes that 
will to act in opposition to the will of its Maker 
and preserver? 

§ 13. If there be not some other cause to 
which this mav be ascribed, we are reduced to 
one of these considerations,- — that a cause 
opposes itself, or,— that there is an effect with- 
out a cause. But where shall we find an ade- 
quate cause? Is it contingence? What is 
contingence ? It will be probably answered, 
that a contingent being or event, is what may 
or may not happen according to free will. 
Granted ; but it also follows, that in this sense, 



sect, n. On Predestination and Election. 213 



every being is contingent except the first, who 
does not owe his existence to free-will, — as every 
other being may be or may not be, according to 
the free-will of the Creator. And as to events, 
there is not one which is not, in this respect, 
contingent ; for, antecedently, it might not 
have been. Either the interposing will of God 
might have prevented it by a miracle, or the 
secondary agent might have been annihilated, 
If by a contingent event be meant, that which 
is not known until it takes place ; then it follows, 
that what is foreknown is not contingent to him 
who does foreknow it, though it may be so 
to others. 

§ 14. Can any thing, in this respect, be con- 
tingent to God? Is he not infinite intelligence 
itself? Some indeed have strangely fancied, 
that though he might foreknow every event 
before it takes place, if he pleased ; yet that he 
does not choose to know it. But is not his 
knowledge of all things, both in himself and out 
of himself, an infinite perfection? What can be 
more fanciful, than the notion of an infinite 
perfection being abridged, or limited by an act 
of choice? If so, any other perfection may be 
• limited. And if limited in some degree, why not 
in i still further degree, until nothing of it be 
left ! Absolute infinity limited by will ! Yet ? 
it may be said, that God can do all things, if he 



214 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch, hi. 

pleased to exert his omnipotence ; but he does 
not choose to exert it to the utmost. That he 
can do all things which do not involve a con- 
tradiction, is very true; but to suppose that he 
can limit an essential perfection of his nature, 
is surely the grossest contradiction. The idea 
of omnipotence is one thing, but the exertion 
of power is another. The former, like intelli- 
gence, is an infinite perfection of the divine 
nature, and therefore cannot be limited by will, 
any more than the divine existence. The idea 
of power exerted ad extra, stands related to a 
limited object; and as the idea of a limited 
object excludes infinity, the exertion of power 
cannot be infinite ; for it implies a power to 
produce infinite effects, — that is, effects equal to 
the first cause, and as numerous as there are 
objects of power! Still, it may be said, that 
the attribute of knowledge is not limited, but 
its exercise. But is there any conceivable me- 
dium between knowledge and ignorance? — and 
a voluntary ignorance, if in this case it were 
possible, is of all others the worst. 

§ 15. Knowledge is essential to wisdom, and 
to be voluntarily ignorant is a voluntary limi- 
tation of wisdom. Is it then conceivable that 
the all- wise God either would or could be volun- 
tarily unwise? Besides, the right exercise of 
power implies knowledge ; and if that exercise 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election, 215 



be infinitely right, how can this consist with a 
voluntary ignorance ? If the divine knowledge 
do not include all beings and events, his designs 
(if on the supposition he could have any) may 
be continually frustrated; and if it do not in- 
clude all possibles, how could any design be 
infinitely wise, since it possibly might be wiser? 
In short, the fallacy lies in this false assumption, 
• — that knowledge is an active principle ; which 
is in fact to identify it with power. The mo- 
ment we conceive a possible change in divine 
knowledge, were it indeed compatible, we must 
borrow the idea of power to effect it : that is, we 
must borrow one attribute in order to lessen 
another ! In short, there is no end to the absurd 
consequences of a sentiment which now struggles 
for popularity as an instrument to oppose Calvi- 
nism. I must, however, do justice to the Bishop 
of Lincoln by observing, that this does not 
appear/ to be his avowed opinion ; and an apo- 
logy might be made to the reader for detaining 
him in making an exposure of it, were it not 
that it contributes to my design to expose false 
principles which are levelled against modern 
Calvinism. 

§ 16. We know from the most unequivocal 
testimonies of scripture, as well as from the 
nature of infinite perfections, that God does fore- 
know future events which are to us contingent* 



216 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

otherwise how could the free determinations of 
men and devils be accurately foretold through 
the whole system of prophecy? Now the 
question returns, can there be any principle 
of certainty beside the divine decree? Must 
not the divine will be the ultimate source 
of all certainty? No. But before I assign 
my direct reason for this laconic answer, let 
me be allowed to ask another question. Is 
the divine will the ultimate source of a mathe- 
matical point? This is neither matter nor spirit* 
neither substance nor form. It has neither 
length, breadth, nor thickness* it has neither 
thought, consciousness, nor, in brief any positive 
being : it is a mere relative nothing : it is nega- 
tion of length, breadth, and thickness, as related 
to something that has these properties. Yet 
will any say, that it is not a source of certainty ? 
Rather, what can be more certain than many 
mathematical conclusions drawn from this nega- 
tive idea? Without the idea of a mathema- 
tical point, we can have no idea of a mathe- 
matical line ; and consequently of a circle, a 
triangle, a square, or any other diagram : but by 
the admission of this non-entity as it stands 
related to dimensions, we have demonstrations 
of the highest certainty, 

§17. This, however, is but, a specimen of 
% negative principle inseparably related to every 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election* % 17 



portion of the created universe. Were I to say 
that a negative principle pervades every por- 
tion of created existence, some minds, led away 
by fancy; rather than corrected by judgment, 
might connect with the positive term a positive 
idea. Language was first formed on the princi- 
ples of sense and physical nature, where so 
much positive energy is discoverable ; and the 
farther we remove from these appearances, to 
abstraction of thought, for instance, and to 
negative ideas especially, it is scarcely possible 
to employ terms by which we are not liable 
to be misguided, if not attended with either 
settled definitions, or frequent explanation of 
the meaning intended to be conveyed by them. 
Language, however, is of arbitrary appoint- 
ment; — and it is a pitiable prejudice too often 
indulged, that thoughts must be governed by 
words, as if these were the unerring standard 
of accurate conception, or that the; mind was 
made for language, and not language for the 
mind, 

§ 18. If there be in every created being a 
negative principle, itself not created, and if such 
negative principle may be an adequate reason 
of certainty, then a divine decree of what is 
good, does not necessarily imply that any real 
evil in the universe (of which there is much) is 
decreed; nor does, it follow that a divine decree 



SI8 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. jiz. 



of election is ' inseparable ' from a decree of repro- 
bation, in the obnoxious sense of the term. 
That there is in every created being a negative 
principle which is itself no created object, is 
necessarily implied in the negative ideas of 
limitation and dependence. No proof is re- 
quired to shew that a creature, however exalted, 
is limited in his being and properties ; and it is 
as evidently impossible that he should be other- 
wise, as it is to multiply absolute infinities. It 
is "no honour to the Deity to suppose that he 
can create an unlimited being : for, in reality, 
to assert that this cannot be done, is the same 
thins; as to assert that God alone is absolutely 
infinite. It is equally clear that this limitation 
is a negative idea, implying a comparative 
defect, — and no one will affirm, that negatipn, 
or defect, as related to the created ojbject, is 
itself created, — because whatever is created 
must have a positive existence. It cannot be 
denied, again, that such limitation involves 
innumerable certainties. It is certain, for in- 
stance, from the very idea of limitation, that a 
creature will not do a great variety of things. 
The same remarks are applicable to the negative 
idea of dependence. 

§ 19. Now seeing innumerable certain con- 
sequences may arise from negative considerations, 
and these negations are no objects of creating 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election. %19 



power, though the beings to which they stand 
related, are so ; it follows that some events may 
be certain which are not decreed, and if certain, 
may be foreknown as such. Thus God may 
foreknow a sinful defect, without decreeing it, 
though he has created and therefore decreed the 
being in whom the defect is found. He may 
foreknow the defects of ignorance, moral weak- 
ness, and sinful neglect, which are no objects of 
his power, and consequently of his decree, though 
the persons to whom these sinful defects are 
attached are the objects both of his power and 
purpose ; — and who can consistently doubt, that 
what he may know, he actually does know. 
Now as certain and certainly foreknown conse- 
quences, may be the necessary result of a nega- 
tive principle, involved in the ideas of limitation 
and dependence, the idea of a decree is excluded 
from these consequences, as involving the notion 
of doing what is superfluous. Impute to God 
the decreeing of that which, is certain to take 
place, (as that a dependent and limited creature 
will not do some things) without a decree, and 
you impute folly to infinite wisdom. 

§ 20. But, on the other hand, human persons 
and faculties, though limited and dependent, have 
a positive existence: nor can it admit of a doubt, 
that certain consequences may arise from a 
positive principle. Such a principle is the first 



220 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



cause, without whose energy (and consequently 
purpose) no positive effect can possibly take 
place. Hence it follows, that whatever is posi- 
tive in any human act is from God, as its 
energetic cause, and is therefore good ; bat 
whatever is negative in the same, is not from 
God, and therefore not good, because he is the 
only source of good, and of good only, — for to 
say that any evil proceeds from infinite good, is 
precisely the same thing as to say, that it is not 
evil. Before we can assert, that no moral evil 
is attached to human beings in our world, we 
must deny not only the testimony of the inspired 
writings, but also that of our consciences: and 
to assert that sin, or the sinfulness of actions, 
is a positive thing, is to make God the ultimate 
cause of it, — -which is virtually to assert that it 
is a good thing. 

§21. From the whole of the preceding con- 
siderations, I humbly conceive, we may safely 
infer the following particulars : 1 . That there 
are negative principles of consequences which 
are infallibly certain; and therefore that there 
are some events which come to pass without a 
decree. 2. That a decree to elect some in 
wisdom and mercy, while not even a good 
thought or desire of any one is opposed but 
rather approved, does not imply a decree of 
Non-Election. 3. That all the good in the 



?ect. it. On Predestination and Election, 221 



created universe is from the will and conse- 
quently the decree or purpose of God; because 
good effects can have no other adequate cause. 
4. That no evil in the universe is decreed by a 
Being of infinite goodness and benevolence ; 
because this would be to oppose himself. 5. 
That the laws of physical nature, the moral law, 
and the operations of justice, are in themselves 
good, though the innocent occasions of evil to 
individuals. 6. That all holiness and happiness 
in creatures are foreseen, because the effects of 
divine energy and purpose, inasmuch as what- 
ever God effects, he designs, and what he designs 
he must needs foresee. 7. That evil which is 
unworthy of God to effect, and consequently to 
purpose, is foreseen in its negative principle, 
which is not from God, though related to crea- 
tures and their actions which it is worthy of 
him to create and support. 8. That the real 
origin of moral evil is a negative principle as 
related to a positive and active being, viz. a 
free agent in search of happiness. 9. That the 
divine sovereign power could prevent moral 
evil in every instance, or remove its effects, but 
that such a prevention and removal are not, in 
all cases, consistent with God's infinite wisdom, 
and with the glory of his perfections, a position 
which is abundantly confirmed from scripture 
testimony and plain facts. 10. That the doctrine 
of Election, as before stated^ is founded on two 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. nr. 



principles, first, the foreseen insufficiency of 
sinful creatures to secure their own happiness, 
and, secondly, the sovereign mercy of God, 
under the direction of. supreme wisdom, — inscrut- 
able by creatures, of whatever order, and in 
whatever state, — resolving to effect that for its 
objects, which his infinite knowledge foresaw 
they would not effect of themselves, however 
suitable the means offered them, or strong the ob- 
jective inducements. 11. The final inference is, 
that the Predestination or Election here main- 
tained — and which I consider as precisely the 
same* with what is expressed in the 17th Article 
< — is infinitely worthy of the divine character 
and perfections. 

§ 22. It is now time to advert to his Lord- 
ship's assertion, That we cannot reconcile 
prescience with other divine attributes and with 
free agency. His words are, { We are utterly 
* incapable of comprehending how God's pre- 
< science consists with the other attributes of 
( the Deity and with the free agency of man.'* 
It is the part of Christian humility to acknow- 
ledge that there are innumerable things which 
we cannot comprehend ; and the remark might 
be extended to the most exalted of created 
intelligences. There are, however, many things 



* Refut. p. 252. 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election, 223 

which we may sufficiently apprehend for the 
purposes of piety and useful practice ; and it 
becomes us to be cautious how we fix our own 
capacity or incapacity as the standard for all 
others, or even for ourselves. What we know 
not now we may know hereafter, even in this 
life, if divinely taught. God is the fountain 
of wisdom; and " Who teacheth like him?" 
He can not only present the objects (the 
utmost that other teachers can do) but 
bestow the capacity to learn; and where he 
does this, it is not humility but ingratitude 
to disown it. 

§ 23. God is infinitely wise and therefore 
knowing ; but what attribute of the Deity has 
even the appearance of being inconsistent with 
this acknowledged fact? It is acknowledged 
that Prescience is included in infinite know- 
ledge ; I ask again, what attribute even appears 
to be inconsistent with it? Is it goodness, or 
holiness, or justice, or mercy ? But is it not 
most apparently consistent, that an infinitely 
good and holy, just and merciful Being, should 
have a perfect knowledge of all beings and 
events, which we call past, present, and future ? 
It seems to me an undeniable truth, for which 
evidence has been produced, that all the good 
in the created universe, of every description^ 
is the effect of God's will and purpose, his 



224 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. 



power and energy* How consistent then with 
all his attributes, that he should foreknow every 
thing he effects? Again, all evil, properly so 
called, results from a negative principle, which 
neither is nor can be the object of will, or of 
divine causation, though related to what is so* 
Now is there any appearance of inconsistency 
between a divine attribute, as justice, mercy* 
&c. and the prescience of events in their ade- 
quate causes? What can be more consistent 
with the attributes of Deity, than that he 
should perfectly foreknow, what his creatures 
ought to do, according to the capacities, 
powers, means and opportunities which he 
would give them ; and what they would not 
do in some circumstances, as well as what they 
would do in others ? 

§ 24. But, it may be said, the chief diffi- 
culty consists in comprehending the consistency 
between the divine prescience, and the free 
agency of man. Granted. But it does not 
appear to be an insurmountable difficulty, 
except when the solution is attempted on false 
principles. Adopt the true, and the difficulty 
vanishes. We all agree in the idea of agency, 
in general; but probably not in the idea of 
freedom. The last term, in my conception, 
is properly and consistently expressive of a 
negative idea — not a power, nor a faculty, but 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election. 225 

exemption related to the will. But, as in the 
view of infinite intelligence nothing can be 
fortuitous or contingent, though many things 
are so to limited knowledge ; and as all know- 
ledge implies a ground of it; and as every 
event has for its ground either an efficient or 
deficient cause ; and as all causes, both efficient 
and deficient, are equally clear to the divine 
mind; — what appearance of inconsistency is 
there between prescience and free agency ? If 
indeed we adopt the false principle of free will 
having no cause of its determination, either effi- 
cient or deficient, the difficulty of reconciliation 
will be insurmountable, and it may be justly 
said, 'We are incapable of comprehending it. 9 
Who is capable of comprehending the truth of 
a false principle, or the harmony of error with 
divine verity? But if all the good determina- 
tions of free will proceed from a good principle 
of which God is the author ; and all evil deter- 
minations from a negative principle related to 
what is good, as the human will is, in itself 
considered; the consequence is conclusive, that 
it would be unworthy of every divine attribute, 
and especially prescience, to suppose that any 
determination of the free a^ent is not foreseen. 
True principles may give us a knowledge that 
is clear and decisive, if the fault be not in 
ourselves; but erroneous principles never can. 
With the latter we may perplex ourselves and 



226 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. 



others for ever; but with the former we may 
arrive at certainty and repose. 

§ 25. We are again told by the Bishop, that 
the actions of free agents are only permitted. 
6 The actions of free agents can only be said 
: to be permitted by God.' This, as a general 
assertion, is highly exceptionable. That this 
is the case as to the fall c of Adam, and every 
s other human transgression of the divine will/ 
is not doubted : but with what propriety can 
the general assertion be applied to the good 
actions of free agents? Are these only ! per- 
c mitted?' Does not the page of inspiration ex- 
pressly declare, respecting the good result, that 
" God worketh in us both to will and to do, 
of his own good pleasure?" What is it lcs£ 
than a perversion and confusion of language, 
as well as of ideas, to make permitting and 
working synonymous? Is it consistent with 
Christian or scientific moral principles, to sup- 
pose that fallen man will do good, if only per- 
mitted, or not hindered ? We cease to wonder 
that any writer, though adorned with various 
knowledge and erudition, holding an opinion 
like this, should so frequently fall into inconsis- 
tencies with himself, as well as with divine 
truth. Surely the actions of free agents have 
a cause, an adequate cause, as well as all other 
effects in the universe; but is there any 



sect. ii. . On Predestination and Election. £2? 

adequate cause of good actions beside good 
principles ; or of these, beside divine efficiency? 
Free will without some cause, and a free will 
to good, without a good cause, are notions 
worthy of a bad cause, and of a worse name 
than I shall permit myself to bestow upon 
them. 

§ 9,6. His Lordship further avows it as his 
opinion, that God did appoint the power of 
believing and obeying to all who hear the gos- 
pel ; but did not appoint that the benefits of 
Christ should be enjoyed by some only. c To 
' send Christ into the world that mankind 
' might be saved, was indeed the eternal pur- 
c pose of God; this he decreed from the be- 
' ginning ; but, in making this decree, he did 
' not appoint, that the benefits of Christ's mis- 
1 sion should be enjoyed by certain individuals 
£ only, but that they should extend to all who 
e believed and obeyed ; and that every one, to 
' whom the gospel should be made known, 
* should have the power of believing and obey- 
1 ing. There was no absolute Election of parti- 
' cular persons who must necessarily be saved, 
6 but a conditional offer of salvation to all*'* In 
this paragraph, as in several others of the same 
tendency, there appears to me a singular 

* Refut. p. 244, 



228 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. tlf« 

mixture of truth and error. I regard it, with his 
Lordship, as a great truth, that it was the 
eternal purpose of God to send Christ into the 
world, that mankind might be saved — and 
moreover that the benefits of his mission should 
extend to all who believed and obeyed. It is 
also a great truth, that every one to whom 
the gospel should be made known should have 
the power — that is, the means,, the opportunity, 
the privilege — of believing and obeying, if he 
pleased ; so that the fault is exclusively in 
himself if he does not believe and obey. But 
some part of the passage quoted appears to me 
very remote from " sound speech that cannot 
be condemned." 

§ 27. 6 No absolute election of particular 
' persons, who must necessarily be saved, but 
* a conditional offer of salvation to all.' That 
there is in the gospel a conditional offer made 
to all addressed by it, is not the point in dis- 
pute, — but whether any perform the condition, 
without being chosen and disposed, with a 
peculiar discrimination. According to his Lord- 
ship's theological sentiments, millions of the 
human race " who are of their own nature 
inclined to evil," not only can but certainly will 
perform the required conditions of repentance 
towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ, without any other assistance but what 



sect. ii. On Predestination and Election. 229 

is common to all. The degeneracy is alike in 
all, and the assistance is the same; but one 
man makes himself to differ from another. 
Nobody doubts that one man does differ from 
another, that the penitent differs from the im- 
penitent, the believing from the unbelieving, 
the obedient from the disobedient; the ques- 
tion is, whence does the difference originate? 
This difference is an important good, — but 
is there any good of which God is not the 
source? It is granted, again, that believing, 
repenting, and obeying, are voluntary acts ; but 
is there any ground of certainty and foreknow- 
ledge of a good will without preventing grace, 
or a divine principle imparted from the Father 
of lights? " Of his own will begat he us by 
the word of truth." To deny particular persons 
to be the subjects of special grace, and of an 
Election for this purpose, is to limit the free 
operation of mercy, and to measure infinite 
wisdom by our own standard. " Thou though test 
that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but 
I will reprove thee, and set them in order before 
thine eyes." All Election is to benefit the crea- 
ture ; but who shall say to infinite beneficence, 
" Hitherto shalt thou go, but no further," when 
one is favoured beyond his just claims, and 
when no one has less than his due ? 



%30 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



Sect. III. 

The same subject continued. 

§ 1 — 4. That the Prescience of being ordained to eternal life is 

founded on our compliance, examined. 
§ 5 — 9. That the idea of a Covenant is inconsistent with the Cal- 

vinistic System, examined. § 10, 11. That absolute Decrees 

reject all Conditions, examined. \ 12. The same event may be 

absolutely decreed in one respect, and conditionally in another. 

§ 13 — 15. This exemplified in the mediation of Christ. § 16. 

Inferential Remarks from the discussion of a Decree, a Covenant, 

and a Condition. 

§ IT; That an Exhortation to walk worthily, is inconsistent with 
certainty of salvation, examined. § 18 — 20. The idea of Motive, 
considered. \ 21. Exhortation to diligence an essential part of 
the motive. § 22, 23. That an infallible Decree cannot be made 
sure, examined. § 24. The doctrine of Motives recapitulated. 
§ 25, 26. General conclusions drawn. 

<j 27 — 30. That the Predestination of the 17th Article is God's pur- 
pose to make a conditional offer of salvation, examined. § 31 — 
34. That Calvinistic Election is disclaimed and condemned in the 
17th Article, examined. 

§ 35, 36. That there was no difference between Judas and the other 
Apostles, except Good Works, examined, § 37, 38. That the 
general terms of God's love, are irreconcilable with his leaving 
some to perish, examined. 

§ 39. That Election is not confined to those who will actually be 
saved, examined. 

§ 1 . We are again told, that the prescience 
of our being ordained to eternal life, is founded 
in our compliance. ' It being the declared will 
• of God, that none to whom the gospel was 
s made known, should obtain eternal life, who 
£ did not believe, and God foreseeing who xvould 
' believe, it might be said, that those believed 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 231 



• r who were ordained to eternal life, that is 3 
1 those who God foresaw would comply with the 
f ordained condition of faith in Christ, upon 
f which eternal life was offered.'* ' In oppo- 
' sition to the Calvinists, I have there [Ele- 
' ments of Christian Theology] represented Pre- 
e destination as founded in foreseen obedience 
4 and disobedience,- and I have added, This 
' appears to me the only sense in which Pre- 
' destination is reconcilable with the attributes 
* of God and the free-agency of man.'f Here 
are supposed effects, viz. believing, complying, 
obedience, and disobedience. But every effect 
must have an adequate cause. That there is an 
adequate cause of disobedience, as of every evil, 
has been proved before ; but where shall we 
find an adequate cause of the other effects ? It 
will be probably answered in Free Will. Free- 
dom, as pertaining to the Will it has beei? 
shewn, is a mere negation or exemption, which 
in the nature of things can have no positive 
effects; but believing, complying, &c. are po- 
sitive effects; consequently all must be reduced 
to Will. That this may be a secondary cause 
of positive effects, is granted ; and also the in- 
nocent occasion of the sinfulness of actions; 
but if will, in man, be the deciding cause of his 
actions, and nothing more, how comes it to pass 



* Refut. p. 234. f lb. p. 251, 



232 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. hi. 

that this cause which is found in every man, 
does not produce the same kind of effects ? for 
it is an acknowledged axiom, That like causes 
produce like effects. 

§ 52. If it be said, That this axiom belongs 
only to physics, but not to morals, I have a right 
to demand of the objector a reason of the dif- 
ference, without his begging the question. No 
such reason, however, I am satisfied, can be 
given. If there be no other cause beside Free- 
will, this palpable absurdity is the consequence, 
that the same cause produces contrary effects, 
or, which is no better, that one of the effects 
is without a cause. God's infinite knowledge, 
and consequently his foreknowledge, sees all 
effects in their adequate causes ; but how can 
the same thing be an adequate cause of oppo- 
site effects? To recur to the arbitrary nature of 
the human will, as the image of the arbitrary 
will of God, is an assumption without proof 
that there is any such will in the Deity. For 
will any one seriously avow, that such is the 
arbitrary nature of the divine Will, that it may 
do evil, as well as good? How much more 
worthy of supreme excellence is the sentiment, 
that the divine will cannot be so arbitrary as 
not to have an adequate came of its determina- 
tions, viz. the perfect rectitude and infinite wis- 
dom of the divine nature. The absolute nature 



sect. in. On Predestination and Etection. 233 



of God excludes all cause of defectibility, and 
consequently of evil effects ; and the same ab- 
solute nature infallibly secures the goodness of 
all the effects it produces. The very nature ot 
God, as absolutely perfect, therefore, is incom- 
patible with that selj -sovereignty of will in him, 
to which the human will has been supposed to 
bear a resemblance. But if it be incompatible 
with the divine nature, with how much less 
reason can it be assumed to be a property of 
the human will. Indeed were such a property 
possible in the nature of things, as a will with- 
out any other cause of its determination beside 
itself, it would be no excellency; — why then 
should it be claimed for the human will ? 

§ 3. For these reasons, among others, we 
are constrained to conclude, that every act of 
the human will, whether good or bad, has a 
cause or adequate reason of the effect, beside 
the mere will itself. And if we view the sub- 
ject in any light whatever, consistent with the 
nature of God and of the creature, which I 
would call the nature of things, we are brought 
constantly and infallibly to this conclusion, — • 
that every good will is from a good principle, 
and therefore from God; and every evil will is 
from some kind of evil principle, and therefore 
from ourselves. I said, " some kind" of evil 
principle ; in order to distinguish it from a 



234 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. in* 



sinful principle, which would not be true as a 
general maxim. For though in fallen creatures 
there is a sinful principle from which evil effects 
proceed, it would be a direct contradiction to 
say that the first sin of any being was from 
a sinful cause or principle. We should there- 
fore carefully distinguish between a morally 
evil principle which belongs to depraved 
creatures, and the merely defective principle 
which alone accounts for the first sinful act 
or desire. 

§ 4. Good acts, therefore, as those enume- 
rated by the Bishop, are not foreseen as spring- 
ing up of themselves without an adequate cause, 
but as the effect of holy energy producing 
them. And a determination to effect this, is to 
predestinate their existence; — which is the same 
thing in substance as is expressed by this grand 
theological axiom, All good is from God. If 
so, how can any one consistently assert, that 
Predestination is 'founded in foreseen obedi- 
' ence r ' It is admitted, that God determines 
or predestinates enjoyments to the obedient, 
and misery to the disobedient ; but to say that 
1 this is the only sense in which Predestination 
' is reconcilable with the attributes of God 
' and the free-agency of man/ is extremely 
objectionable. The 7rpwTov •tysubog, or the radical 
fallacy of this error, is a gratuitous assumption. 



sect. ill. On Predestination and Election. 235 



that good and evil must proceed from the 
same identical principle; — and it has been 
adopted by persons of even opposite sentiments. 
In the one extreme are those who reduce all 
events to the predestinating will of God ; in the 
other, are those who reduce all moral events, 
without distinction of good and bad, to the will 
of man as their ultimate source. Both these 
extremes, however, pursued to their just conse- 
quences, are demonstrably absurd. Neither of 
them gives unto God the things that are God's, 
nor unto man the things that arc his. The 
more we investigate the subject without inju- 
rious prepossessions, and with a humble mind, 
the more clearly we shall perceive, that though 
the human will is the agent, yet the ultimate 
cause, and the only adequate cause of every 
good effect, is the will of God, operating accord- 
ing- to his beneficent and infinitelv wise nature : 
and the only ultimate and adequate cause of 
every bad effect, though, as observed before, 
the human will is the agent, is a negative prin- 
ciple peculiar to the creature, as inseparably 
related to it. That there is in every creature 
such a principle of defectibility, which is, how- 
ever, under the control of supreme beneficence 
and wisdom, has been proved before ; and that 
there is no such principle in the self-existent, 
independent, and all-sufficient Jehovah, needs no 
proof. 



fS6 Modern Calvinism Defended,, ch. hi* 

§ 5, His Lordship says, That the idea of a 
covenant is inconsistent with the Calvinistic 
System. 4 God was pleased, both by the law 
4 and by the gospel, to enter into covenant with 
4 his chosen people the Jews and Christians; 
4 to promise reward to the obedient, and to 
4 threaten punishment to the disobedient. But 
4 neither in the law nor in the gospel, does he 
4 promise certain and infallible salvation, or 
* threaten absolute and inevitable perdition, to 
4 any number, or to any description, of persons, 
4 except as they shall or shall not comply with 
4 the expressed conditions. Under both cove- 
4 nants, the rewards and punishments are made 
' to depend upon the voluntary conduct of eacli 
4 individual. — The very idea of Covenant is in- 
1 consistent with the Calvinistic system. Cove- 
£ nant implies conditions ; absolute decrees re- 
'ject all conditions. A covenant says, you 
4 shall have such and such a reward, if you act 
4 in the manner stipulated ; absolute decrees 
4 say, that it is irreversibly determined by the 
4 arbitrary will of God, that you shall or shall 
4 not be saved, without any respect to your con- 
4 duct!* Now setting aside all irritation which 
might be excited by such a statement of 
Calvinism, — as our object is truth, and as the 
best way to it is calm investigation 44 with 



* Refut. p. 226. 



«fxt. in. On Predestination and Election, 237 

meekness and fear;" let us impartially examine 
this account. 

§ 6. The CalvinistSj as a general body, 
believe that the word covenant in Scripture 
(jT"D, Ssa&jjnj, fadus) is used, like most other 
terms, in different acceptations according to the 
subject and connexion. It often denotes a 
grant of some privilege, as to Noah, Abraham 
and his posterity, &c» ; and sometimes it signifies 
the sign or seal by which that grant was repre- 
sented and confirmed, as the rainbow, circum- 
cision, &c. : but most properly an agreement 
between two or more parties is expressed by it, — - 
an agreement which is either expressly made, or 
tacitly implied. In this latter sense we consider 
the existence of a Covenant between the Father 
and the Son, respecting human redemption. We 
think that our blessed Saviour voluntarily 
engaging to humble himself to become incar- 
nate " for us men and for our salvation," and 
" obedient unto death, the accursed death of 
the cross," contained the nature of a federal 
condition, on the performance of which he 
acquired a right of suretyship to give eternal life 
to as many as the Father gave him to be re- 
deemed, to confer " gifts upon men, yea the 
rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell 
among them/' By his acts of humiliation, from 
the womb to the grave, being in every step a 



238 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. lit, 

perfect character, lie paid a price of redemp- 
fion^ in virtue of which he is invested with ali 
power and authority in heaven and earth, 

§ 7. We also believe that a Covenant was 
implied between God and the first Man. The 
Condition of it was perseverance in that state 
of rectitude in which he was created. The first 
transgression was a breach of Covenant; and 
consequently the favours which depended on 
the condition were forfeited. The nature of 
the case excluded the possibility of this or a 
similar Covenant with man to be repeated, ex- 
cept with one who was originally free from sin. 
Hence the necessity, the conditional necessity, 
of the immaculate conception of the second 
Adam, the Lord from heaven, and of his con- 
tinuing " holy, harmless, and underlled, separate 
from sinners :" and hence he received the Spirit 
without measure, not only for himself but 
for others. Out of his fullness, who is made 
head over all things to his church, all his 
spiritual members receive, " and grace for 
grace." 

§ 8. That God entered into Covenant with 
Abraham and his posterity the Jews, needs no 
formal evidence. The condition of it was 
willing obedience; and while the benefits of 
compliance were many, the threatenings for non- 



?£ct. iTi. On Predestination and Election. 239 



compliance were awful and tremendous. Mer- 
ciful promises were interwoven with the whole 
Mosaic code, and in no instance were they 
exempt from performing the equitable condi- 
tions, including faith and repentance, love and 
obedience. The Christian church also is dealt 
with in the way of a Covenant, with conditions 
and sanctions. The basis of it, as addressed to 
mankind, is divine mercy testified, in virtue of 
our blessed Saviour's adequate price of redemp- 
tion. The conditions are, — if we would obtain 
pardon, it must be on our unfeigned repent- 
ance; if we would be justified, it must be on 
our believing with the heart God's testimony 
concerning Jesus ; if we would be saved, it 
must be in the way of unreserved obedience to 
God's revealed will ; if Ave would be happy, 
it must be in the way of holiness. This is our 
notion of a covenant and its conditions. Now 
what is there in this Calvinistic system f incon- 
' sistent with the idea of a covenant ?' The mis- 
chief, it seems, lurks out of sight. But what 
is it? When all were disabled by sin to perform 
the conditions equitably required, we further 
hold, that some are enabled to perform the 
required conditions by special favour and purpose [ 
God foresaw that all with one consent would 
fail in performing them, if left to themselves, 
with nothing more than promises and sanctions, 
or a declaration of an all-sufficient Saviour, 



240 Modern CAivtNtsM Defended. ch. hi. 

blessings on compliance, and misery on refusal ; 
and therefore determined that the covenant 
should not be without effect. " My counsel 
shall stand, and I will do my pleasure.*' " He 
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days* 
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in 
his hands." 

§ 9. That God was pleased, under different 
dispensations, 'to promise reward to the obe- 
f dient, and to threaten punishment to the dis- 

* obedient,' is so very plainly taught in scripture, 
that no person of common understanding is 
ever likely to controvert it; beside that the 
equity of the case carries its own evidence of 
propriety. Destitute as Calvinists may be of 
penetration in other things, and especially the 
moderns, 1 the enthusiasts of the present day,' # 
they are very willing to admit the idea of a 
Covenant, and of course the ' conditions' which 
belong to it. They also can distinguish between 
a promise and a purpose ; and that the former is 
never connected, properly speaking, with ' cer- 

* tain and infallible salvation' to any who 1 shall 
' not comply with the expressed conditions.' 
Much less do they suppose that ' absolute and 

* inevitable perdition is threatened to any num- 
c ber, or to any description, of persons, except as 



* Refut. p. 171. 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election* 241 



' they shall not comply with the expressed con- 
( ditions.' And yet his Lordship roundly asserts, 
that ' the very idea of a Covenant is inconsist- 
? ent with the Calvinistic system !' But how ? 
Because, he thinks, 6 absolute decrees reject all 
' conditions.' — 4 Absolute decrees say, that it 
* is irreversibly determined by the arbitrary will 
' of God, that you shall or shall not be saved, 
' zvithout any respect to your conduct! 

§ 10. I am very willing that his Lordship's 
objections should have all the force that can be 
imagined in this argument, without any palli- 
ation or concealment, in hope that the answer 
to it will be received with equal candour. Do 
absolute decrees 'reject' all conditions? It is 
a plain fact, recorded by divine inspiration, that 
God had purposed or 1 decided' that the crew who 
sailed with St. Paul in his voyage to Rome, 
should, with himself, remain in safety. " And 
now I exhort you to be of good cheer ; for there 
shall be no loss of any man's life among you, 
but of the ship. For there stood by me this 
night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom 
I serve, saying, Fear not Paul; thou must be 
brought before Caesar ; and lo, God hath given 
thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, 
sirs, be of good cheer : for I believe God, that 
it shall be even as he told me." — Here is not 
only a decree, but on€ revealed; but does it 

R 



242 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. nt. 



€ reject all conditions;' No, for St. Paul very 
rationally and consistently " said to the centurion, 
and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the 
ship, ye cannot be saved.' 1 * If his Lordship sup- 
poses that Calvinists cannot distinguish between 
a conditional and an absolute decree, he may be 
under a mistake. We believe that the decree, 
for instance, of creating the first chaos was 
absolute, for non-existence could furnish no con- 
dition. But the decree to adorn existing matter 
was conditional, because without the condition 
of substance, there could be no form. Every 
series or chain of events decreed, implies that 
one link is to be connected with the other; — 
nor can we admit that free-will is qualified to 
charm away or to dissolve this connexion, for 
these reasons, among many others : first, because 
the infinite wisdom and power of the Decreer is 
sufficient to maintain it: secondly, because 
nothing is decreed by God but good, which is 
therefore worthy of all his perfections : thirdly, 
because no link in a chain of events can start 
into existence and occupy its place without an 
adequate cause : fourthly, because the will itself 
(though absolutely free from constraint to evil, 
as well as restraint from good,) is a link of the 
decreed chain: to which we may add fifthly, 
that there is no good volition but what is the 



* Acts xxvii.' 22 — 25, 31. 



sect. HI. On Predestination and Election* 243 

effect of a good principle, nor any good prin- 
ciple in a creature but what is from the will of 
God, and consequently from his purpose or 
decree. 

§11. In every series of decreed events, the 
last of the series, as to the order of operation, 
is founded on the condition of the orderly exist- 
ence of the events preceding. Suppose, for 
instance, that God has decreed a series of events 
relative to an individual, the last of which is 
the enjoyment of himself in heaven. But this 
is executed under the indispensable condition of 
holiness ; for " without holiness no man shall 
see the Lord." He has therefore decreed that he 
shall be holy. But no man can be holy without 
a vital union to Christ, the true vine, as an 
indispensable condition. He has therefore de- 
creed this union, and every connecting link of 
events preceding (worthy of his formation) till 
we arrive at his first existence. How then can 
we be said to hold the decree of happiness with* 
out conditions? 

§ 12. Will any one object, that this series of 
decreed events is not a Covenant ? I grant it ; 
but the Bishop's objection to our sentiments is 
that they reject all 6 conditions,' and I have 
shewn that our view of decrees does not reject 
all conditions. But it may be said, that he 



£44 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. hi. 



admits of conditional decrees, but rejects those 
that are absolute. I reply, that the same event 
may be absolutely decreed in one respect, while 
conditionally in another. Thus human happiness 
may be absolutely decreed, though the condition 
of faith and obedience precede it ; because the 
condition itself may be decreed with the same 
absolute certainty. We do not hold, but rather 
abhor the sentiment which his Lordship imputes 
to us, { that it is irreversibly determined by the 
' arbitrary will of God, that you shall or shall 
< not be saved, without any respect to your 
6 conduct'- Our sentiment is, that if it be irre- 
versibly determined by the arbitrary will, or the 
sovereign pleasure, of God, directed by infinite 
wisdom and mercy, that any one shall be saved, 
it is no less irreversibly determined that salva- 
tion shall be attained by a right conduct. We 
hold that every preceding step of the means 
and conditions connected with the end, is as 
absolutely secured by God's decretive will, as 
the end itself. 

*§ 13. That a federal condition is not incom- 
patible with an absolute decree of its fulfilment, 
which is the precise point in question, is capable 
of undeniable proof from acknowledged facts. 
It must be acknowledged, that Jesus Christ, by 
his voluntary obedience unto death, performed 
a federal condition, without which his exaltation 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election* 24>5 



could not follow; and yet who will say, that 
his exaltation was not absolutely decreed ? Here 
is a series of decreed events, the end of which 
is Christ's heavenly glory; the condition of it 
was, his perfect obedience unto death; the 
condition of that, his incarnation. If his incar- 
nation was not absolutely decreed, neither could 
his exaltation and glory as Mediator be so 
decreed. This decidedly proves, not only that 
one event depending upon another, as an indis- 
pensable condition, may be absolutely decreed, 
or irreversibly determined, but also that an 
intervening part of the series of events may be 
a federal condition performed by a voluntary 
agent, and consequently by the exercise of Free- 
will. If the will of " the man Christ Jesus," than 
which none could be more free, formed a link 
in the chain of events, by his voluntary obe- 
dience, without which the end, the reward of a 
glorious exaltation, could not be attained, can 
any argument be more conclusive than this, that 
* absolute decrees' do not 1 reject all conditions* 
of a covenant ? 

§ 14. If it be urged, that the man Jesus was 
assisted by his divine nature to perform the 
condition, I admit this in its amplest force ; nay, 
further, his human nature required that assist- 
ance, in order to perform with absolute certainty 
the stipulated condition, — and this proves, that 



246 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi* 

an absolute decree to give assistance whereby 
the condition may be infallibly performed, is 
not ' inconsistent with the idea of a Covenant.' 
" Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the 
heavens, and stretched them out ; he that spread 
forth the earth, and that which cometh out of 
it; he that giveth breath to the people upon it, 
and spirit to them that walk therein : I the Lord 
have called thee in righteousness, and will hold 
thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for 
a covenant of the people, for a light of the 
Gentiles. " # — " The spirit of the Lord God is upon 
me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach 
good tidings unto the meek : he hath sent me 
to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim 
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound : to proclaim the 
acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of 
vengeance of our God, to comfort all tnat 
mourn : to appoint unto them that mourn in 
Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the 
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise 
for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be 
called trees of righteousness, the planting of the 
Lord, that he might be glorified,"! 

§ 15. On the passages above cited I would 
offer a few remarks which appear to me to have 



'* Isa, xlii. 5, 6. 



f Isa. lxL 1, % 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 247 

a strong bearing on the point under discussion. 
First, that they relate to the Messiah in his 
federal capacity : secondly, that they express a 
purpose ' irreversibly determined by the arbi- 
' trary will of God/ to give assistance for per- 
forming the conditions of a Covenant, and not 
merely as a reward upon the performance: 
thirdly, that the Messiah, thus divinely assisted 
to perforin his condition of a stipulated Cove- 
nant, should also assist others to obtain that 
holiness which is to them the federal condition 
of happiness : fourthly, that these prophetic 
declarations (to which more might have been 
added) are abundantly confirmed and illustrated 
by parallel declarations in the New Testament ; 
for there we are assured that " he received not 
the Spirit by measure," and the very existence 
of his humanity was from the Holy Spirit by a 
decretive determination, — and yet his assump- 
tion of humanity was a part of the federal con^ 
dition. 

§ 16. From these considerations we may 
safely infer, that Bishop Tomline had not suffi- 
ciently considered the subject, nor the senti- 
ments of Calvinists, when he asserted, that 6 the 
* very idea of a Covenant is inconsistent with 
c the Calvinistic system' — and that ' absolute de- 
c crees reject all conditions' — or even 6 any 
c respect to conduct.' We have seen that the 



\ 



248 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi* 

decree of an ultimate event may be absolutely 
certain, though a condition precede it; and that 
the same remark is applicable to each event in 
the series. We therefore contend, on the firmest 
ground, first, that a 6 decree' of absolute Election 
to glory, does not reject but include conditional 
events preceding the ultimate ones: secondly, 
that divine, effectual assistance, absolutely secur- 
ing a performance of the conditions by the 
federates, is perfectly consistent with the idea 
of a covenant: and, finally, that though pardon, 
justification, and eternal salvation, be suspended 
on the conditions of repentance, faith, and obe- 
dience to be performed by us, yet the reward 
may be consistently bestowed, notwithstanding 
it be * irreversibly determined' by the merciful 
and wise Jehovah, that his gracious and power- 
ful assistance shall secure the performance of the 
condition and the ultimate event. 

§ 17. His Lordship would fain persuade his 
readers, that an exhortation to walk worthily, is 
incompatible with certainty of salvation. * St. 
4 Peter says, " Give diligence to make your call- 

* ing and election sure : for if ye do these things 
i ye shall never fall :" therefore the salvation of 
4 these elect, of this chosen generation, was so 

* far from being certain that it depended on 
' their own diligence ; their " not falling' was 
4 so far from being infallibly decreed that it 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election, 249 



6 depended upon their doing those things which 
4 the apostle commanded.' * Of St. Paul, writing 
to the Ephesians, it is observed, ' instead of 
' representing their salvation as certain, he 
' earnestly exhorts them to walk worthy of the 
1 vocation wherewith they were called ; guards 

* them against those deceits which brino* down 
1 the wrath of God upon the children of disobe- 
e dience, &c.'f i The Thessalonians by embrac- 
i ing Christianity, were now enabled to obtain 

* salvation ; but that this salvation was not 
4 certain and infallible, is evident from the 
6 numerous exhortations and precepts contained 
' in these epistles.' J The preceding discussions 
are virtually a reply to this objection. An ex- 
hortation, it is. evident, is intended to furnish 
the person exhorted with a suitable motive of 
action : and as rational beings are not expected 
to act without a motive, so the obedience ex- 
horted to, which is a prerequisite to attain the 
end, requires the exhortation as an essential 
part of a suitable motive. 

§ 18. But so apt are we, when discussing 
moral and religious subjects, to use terms in a 
a lax and undefined manner, that the following 
question may be thought by many readers quite 
superfluous, What is Motive? — However, I do 



* Refut. p. 205. f lb. p. 207 + lb. p. 210. 



( 250 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. uv 

not think it superfluous to explain my o:ni mean- 
ing when I use the term in an argument that 
requires precision of ideas. By motive I under- 
stand, that which actually moves and determines 
the free will of an agent to one choice rather 
than another. Is any thing beside the exhor- 
tation and the will required to effect this? Yes: 
for the will, however free, must in its elections 
either move itself, or be moved by something 
else, in order to comply with, or to reject the ex- 
hortation. If it move itself, it is both the mover 
and thing moved ; that is, it is at once both cause 
and effect. It has been often imagined by those 
who oppose Calvinism in this point, that the hu- 
man Will is a self-moving power resembling the 
self-moving power of the divine Will, 'which, as 
they suppose, has no. other cause of its activity 
and choice than itself: but it appears to me de- 
monstrable, that the divine will is not of that 
character. For what is divine will, in accurate 
conception, but the medium of power? Power 
therefore moves the divine will. Even power 
however is never exerted, nor can consistently 
be conceived to be exerted, without a moving 
cause. And what can there be in God anterior, 
as to the order of our conception, to will and 
power, but his nature as infinitely good and wise ? 

§ 19. Now, if the divine will be not a self- 
moving principle, much less is the human. The 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 251 

human will, as well as the divine, is the medium 
of active power, of which God is the proper 
source, without whose voluntary energy, there 
is no conceivable cause of its continuance. A 
self -deter mining human will, therefore, is a com- 
plete absurdity. But what does actually deter- 
mine or move it to action ? In a word, what is 
it beside the exhortation that constitutes the 
motive? We have proved it cannot be the will 
itself; it must, therefore, be some radical prin- 
ciple of prior consideration. The radical source, 
of all active power, or agency, is God ; and this 
power, as flowing from him, is good, since nothing 
but good can possibly proceed from infinite 
goodness. Nevertheless, this power in a crea- 
ture, as well as the will, stands related to defec- 
tibility, and the negative cause of that defecti- 
bility, as essential to a limited and dependent 
being; and the same active power may stand 
related to the indefectibility of God, by parti- 
cipation, in such a manner and degree, that the 
tendency of defectibility may be counteracted. 
Here, then, we see that the human will, which 
is a medium of power, and the power itself which 
directs it, stand related to two principles, — the 
cause of defectibility, and the cause of indefec- 
tibility; but not in the same respect. The cause 
of the former, is inseparable from our limited 
nature; the cause of the latter, is in God, 
and at his disposal, not our own, — for to sup- 



252 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. nf* 



pose a dependent nature to be essentially re- 
lated to the cause of indefectibility, is the 
same as to say, that indefectibility is essentially 
related to a defectible being, which is incom- 
patible. 

§ 20. Hence we perceive, that the human 
will may be the medium of active power in pro- 
ducing good or evil, according as it stands re- 
lated to either of the fore-mentioned principles. 
While under the influence of God, the cause of 
indefectibility, the effect must be good; but 
w r hile under the influence of the cause of defec- 
tibility, which is a negative principle, the effect 
will be evil, — each in a moral sense. The for- 
mer principle is from God, the latter from our- 
selves. These are essential constituent parts of 
motive, in a good or bad choice respectively. 
The other constituent part of a motive, is the 
objective consideration that solicits the will 
through the medium of the understanding. If 
objective considerations constituted the whole 
of a motive, every will would be moved alike ; 
and indeed endless absurd consequences would 
follow : and, on the other hand, if the principle 
constituted the whole of a motive, all £ exhor- 
4 tations,' persuasions, and solicitations of the 
will, the heart, or active power, through the 
medium of the understanding, would be super- 
fluous ; which is contrary to universal experi- 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 253 



ence, acknowledged propriety, and the nature 
of things. 

§ 21. The way is now prepared to meet the 
objections of his Lordship fairly and directly. 
' Exhortations^ to diligence, &c, constitute an 
essential part of motive ; for they point out con- 
siderations which solicit the will, and which, 
according to their nature, have a tendency to 
move it : but these considerations actually move 
the will, as to compliance or non-compliance, 
good or evil, according to the nature of the 
principle, which is the other essential part of 
the motive. For the exhortation is addressed 
alike to those who are under the influence 
of each of those essential principles; conse- 
quently, if we take away what is common to 
both, the remainder of the motive in each case 
will be the principle. If the principle be good, 
the exhortation to obedience will be successful 
in proportion; but if the principle be evil, that 
is, either morally evil or negatively defective, it 
will not be successful. Without motives, of 
which objective considerations addressed to the 
free agent, constitute an essential part, the will 
is not actually moved to choose either good or 
evil; and where there is no choice of good, 
there can be no active compliance or obedience. 
Where there is no compliance with and obedi- 
ence to the will of God, there can be no arrival 



254 Modern Calvinism Defended, cii. in, 

at that state of happiness which is the end of 
obedience. He, therefore, who would be finally 
blessed, must seek it by obedience to the will 
of God. Consequently, exhortation is one event 
in the series of divine decrees, without which 
the last, eternal happiness, cannot be rationally 
expected. 

§ 2.9. The Bishop observes, in a note, that 
* the Apostle could not call upon the Christian 
f converts to make an Infallible decree sure?* 
But why could he not? Even supposing that 
St. Peter did not mean " their calling and 
Election sure " in their own apprehension, or to 
the satisfaction of their own mind; might not 
the holy ' diligence ' be a part of the infallible 
decree, and the apostle's ' exhortation* an essen- 
tial part of the prevailing motive to it? To 
imagine that the certainty or infallibility of an 
event, rejects those very means which are ap- 
pointed to render that event certain or infallible, 
is of all conceits the most unreasonable. Sup- 
pose it were apprehended by the father of a 
young man of family and genius in the esta- 
blished church, that God had revealed to hini 
his having 6 infallibly decreed ' that his son 
should be advanced to an archiepiscopal see, 
through the medium of piety, learning, and 



* Refut. p. 205. 



sect. hi. On Predestination and Election. 



255 



worthy conduct ; would there be any incon- 
sistency, rather would there not be the utmost 
propriety and good reason, in the father exhort- 
ing the son to piety, learning, and worthy con- 
duct, as things inseparably connected with the 
ultimate event so much valued ; would not his 
neglect, under the pretence of an infallible de- 
cree, be regarded as highly censurable ? 

§ 23. Yet, it may be urged, is it not possible 
that one person may neglect his duty, or that 
another may not comply with reasonable mo- 
tives; what then becomes of a revealed infalli- 
ble decree? This objection is very weak, and 
the proper answer to it is plain. If the former 
finally neglect his duty, or the latter through 
non-compliance finally fail of attaining the end; 
the event would prove that the supposed reve- 
lation was not from God, who is incapable of 
declaring a future event to be certain, which 
proves in fact to be the contrary. But if the 
event corresponded with the supposed revelation, 
it is clear that the duty of the one, and the com- 
pliance of the other, were included. God is 
never at a loss to accomplish his purposes, as all 
hearts are in his hand, and at his disposal. If 
he determine to preserve his church against the 
gates of hell, to call into his fold the fulness of 
the Gentiles, or to bring in the scattered seed of 
Abraham, he can prepare and animate suitable 



256 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



instruments to accomplish his design, and effec- 
tually dispose the heart to comply with the ex- 
hortations. And a revelation of the certainty of 
such an event would be a powerful motive to 
any heart subject to his holy influence, for a 
more vigorous exertion in promoting its ac- 
complishment. This was eminently the case 
with his holy apostles and evangelists. In pro- 
portion as they were certain respecting God's 
fixed purpose to set up a spiritual kingdom 
among men, or to advance any of the human 
race to eternal glory, the more ardent was their 
zeal, and the more unwearied were their endea- 
vours. 

§ 24. In the course of this Examination it 
has been if I mistake not, abundantly proved : 
1. That the faculty of Will, whether in God or a 
creature, is not a radical power, but only a me- 
dium of power : C Z. That it is not a self-determin- 
ing faculty, but is determined by motives: 3. 
That every motive, which determines the free 
agent to act, choose, or prefer, consists of two 
essential parts, viz. the object to be chosen or 
rejected, and the principle : 4. That the radical 
principles which determine the character or 
moral quality of actions, as good or bad, are two, 
and can be two only, primarily considered, 
viz. the negative cause of defectibility, which 
cannot belong to God, and the positive cause 



sect* in. On Predestination and Election* 257 

of indefectibility, which belongs to him essen- 
tially: 5. That the influence of the indefectible 
principle is at the sovereign disposal of God, 
which influence is no more claimable by the 
creature than any other favour which is in fact 
not granted him : 6. That when God is pleased, 
in goodness and wisdom, to grant this influence 
to man's heart, that renewal of the heart and 
mind takes place which constitutes a gracious 
principle: It follows, 7thly, that as the princi- 
ple constitutes the whole of the difference irj 
both motives, (the objective part being common 
to both,) the successful effect must be as the 
principle, which is the fruit of divine gracious 
operation. 

§ 25. Known unto God are all his own ope- 
rations, all principles produced by them, all 
negative principles counteracted, all objective 
means afforded to men, and where any motive will 
prove efficient, as well as where any inefficient. 
These are not conjectural opinions, but demon- 
strable verities. The holy scriptures indeed 
furnish the data, • without which no human in- 
genuity or power of reasoning could avail us ; 
but with their aid, throwing light on the cha- 
racter of God and the real state of mankind, 
the conclusions fairly drawn are no less certain 
than those of mathematical science. And from 
the whole of this part of the subject, we may 



258 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 

draw these general inferences: first, that the 
Calvinistic doctrine of Election is perfectly con- 
sistent with exhortations, invitations, cautions, 
warnings, threatening^, &c. : secondly, that gra- 
cious influence, which is at the sovereign dis- 
posal of divine goodness and wisdom, absolutely 
secures the event, eternal glory, notwithstand- 
ing all possible freedom of the agent : thirdly, 
that personal election originates, not in the free 
will of man, but in the good and wise pleasure 
of God, — " that no flesh might glory in hisr 
presence :" fourthly, that as personal election 
does injury to no one, the character of God 
therein appears infinitely amiable and merciful: 
fifthly, that the opposers of personal and certain 
election, can obtain no conceivable advantage 
by any scheme of their own, either as it relates 
to the character of God or the happiness of 
men. 

§ 26. Suppose, for argument' sake, that there 
were no such thing as personal election ; what 
could be gained by the supposition ? Would no 
men continue wicked, or would more of man- 
kind attain happiness? Both parties allow that 
" wide is the gate and broad is the way that 
leadeth to destruction," and that " many are 
they that go in thereat ;" and, on the other 
hand, that in fact, " straight is the gate and 
narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. %59 



few there be that find it." On any scheme of 
thought whatever, the fact is the same. The 
question then returns to this, what scheme gives 
most advantage in dealing with men, as to their 
immortal concerns, and reflects most honour on 
the character of God? — or, which amounts to 
the same thing, what do the sacred oracles 
teach us on the subject ? No one is at liberty 
to interpret one part at the expense of another i 
and the appeal is now made to every competent 
reader, whether Bishop Tom line's scheme does 
not set up one train of thought contained in the 
scripture at the expense of another equally im- 
portant; and whether the doctrine of election, 
as previously explained, be not consistent with 
scripture, consistent with itself, and consistent 
with the Articles of the Established church* 

§27. His Lordship supposes, that the Pre- 
destination taught in the seventeenth Article, is 
God's gracious purpose to make a conditional offer 
of salvation to men. 6 " Those whom God hath 
c chosen in Christ," that is, those to whom God 

* decreed to make known the gospel of Christ' — • 
" They be called according to God's purpose, 

* by his Spirit working in due season : they through 

* grace obey the calling : they be justified freely : 
€ they be made the sons of God by adoption s 
' they be made like the image of his only-begot- 
' ten Son Jesus Christ : they walk religiously in 



260 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



6 good works ; and at length by God's mercy 
? they attain to everlasting felicity," that is, 
e they on their part conform to the conditions 
' of the gospel covenant by obey big the calling, 
' and waiting religiously in good works, under 
c the influence and assistance of the Holy 
e Spirit ; and, as a rexvard y they are justified 
c in this .world, are made sons of God, by 
! adoption, are made like the image of Christ, 
c and at length attain everlasting felicity. Pre- 
* destination to life therefore is not an absolute 

■ decree of eternal happiness to certain indivi- 
€ duals, but a gracious purpose of God, to make 
1 a conditional offer of salvation to men, through 
6 the merits of Christ." ' # Surely never was there 
an Article so inflexibly opposite to the opinion 
of its expositor! " Those whom God hath 
chosen in Christ;" that is, according to his 
Lordship, c those to whom God decreed to 

■ make known the gospel of Christ.' If this be 
the true exposition, the compilers must mean, 
that those to whom God ' decreed to make 
known the gospel of Christ,' or, to make a con- 
ditional offer of salvation, " obey the calling," 
are "justified freely," are " made the sons of 
God by adoption," are " made like the image 
of Jesus Christ ;" that " they walk religiously 
in good works, and at length by God's mercy. 



* Refut. p. 26S. 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 261 

they attain to everlasting felicity ! * Arc there 
not millions to whom the gospel is made known., 
and to whom is made a conditional offer of 
salvation, who are utter strangers to these 
effects? How then could the compilers say 
that these effects are found in those who are 
"endued with so excellent a benefit of God" 
as " predestination to life/' without pointedly 
contradicting an obvious matter of acknow- 
ledged fact? 

§ 28. The question is not whether s God 
i decreed to make known the gospel of Christ/ 
or, ' graciously purposed to make a_ conditional 
1 offer of salvation to men through the merits of 

* Christ/ or, whether any. 'on their part conform 

* to the conditions of the gospel covenant by obey- 
' ing the calling, and walking religiously in good 
< works;' for these things are confessed on both 
sides. The question is, what is the real cause 
of these effects? or, what God does on his part? 
Men " obey the calling but from what cause ? 
Is it an inexplicable self-determining power in 
the will, or is it grace in the heart, — the power 
of man, or the Spirit of God " working in due 
season?" They are "justified;" but do they 
obtain this great privilege " as a reward/' or 
" freely ? 5? They are " made the Sons of God 
by adoption f but where does this privilege 
originate? in the will and purpose of man, or 
in the wise choice of God? The question is 



2b2 Modern Calvinism Defended. en. in, 

not, whether the privilege belongs to the wil- 
ling and obedient ; but, who made them willing 
and obedient? Was it free will in the adopted, 
or, the grace of God? That the elect are 
" made like the image of Christ," is not dis- 
puted; but does man effect it by the potent 
energy of self, self-will, self-determination, — or, 
does God effect it by his grace and spirit, 
whereby they are " transformed into the same 
image from glory to glory?" The elect ' walk 
( religiously in good works.' No Calvinist de- 
nies this ; but we " affirm constantly, that they 
who believe in God should be careful to main- 
tain good works," and that the disciples of 
Christ ought " to observe all things whatso- 
ever he hath commanded them." We " charge 
those who are rich in this world, to be rich in 
good works f and that all Christians should be 
found " diligent in business, fervent in spirit, 
serving the Lord," according to their situations. 
Now the question is, when Christians have 
6 walked religiously in good works,' to what 
are we taught to ascribe this effect? How 
should we give unto man the things that are 
his, and unto God the things that are God's? 
If man was the willing agent, was it his own 
will made him willing; or was it " God that 
worked in him both to will and to do, of his 
own good pleasure?" 



§ £9, True Christians f at length attain to 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 265 

< everlasting felicity and I have no objection to 
add, that they are c rewarded,' — not of merit, 
however, but " by God's mercy." But how 
passed the inhabitants of heaven, successfully 
through this wonderful process, the whole 
series of events, from the first moment of their 
lives to their enjoyment of * everlasting feli- 
'city?* Not to mention their first existence 
as rational beings, their preservation in life, and 
that in the wise providence of God they were 
placed in favourable situations as to religious 
privileges ; we will suppose that God has * de- 
4 creed to make known to them the gospel of 
' Christ,' and 6 to make a conditional offer of 
* salvation to them.' Now, God having clone 
all this on his part, let us see what more is to 
be done, in order < to attain eternal felicity.' 
Jehovah proclaims by his servants, " Incline 
your heart to the Lord God of Israel." " In- 
cline your ears to the words of my mouth." 
But man by nature is " inclined to evil :" and 
as he cannot incline contrary ways at the same 
time, there must be some cause of a change of 
inclination from evil to good. This is the first 
difficulty. The thing is not impossible, else no 
one could be saved. " The condition of man 
after the fall of Adam is such," observes the 
Article upon Free-Will, " that he cannot [which 
is the same as will not] turn and prepare him- 
self by his own natural strength and good 



£64 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii.'iii. 

works, to faith and calling upon God." But 
what is impossible with men is possible with 
God: and when he has been pleased to effect 
this change of inclination, the true converts are 
constrained to acknowledge, " Of his own will 
begat he us by the word of truth." <c He hath 
made us willing in the day of his power." One 
of the best passages in the Book I am examin- 
ing is the following : c A man cannot, by his 
( own natural faculties and unassisted exertions, 
e so counteract and correct the imperfection and 
' corruption derived from the fall of Adam, as 

* to be able of himself to acquire that true and 
4 lively faith which would secure his salvation, 
i or to call upon God with that sincerity, fer- 

■ vour, and devotion, which can alone give effi- 

* cacy to our prayers. The human mind is so 
' weakened and vitiated by the sin of our first 
6 parents, that we cannot by our own natural 
1 strength prepare it, or put it into a proper 
( state, for the reception of a saving faith, or for 

■ the performance of the spiritual worship re- 

* quired in the gospel : this mental purification 

* cannot be effected without divine assistance'* 

§ 50. f Without divine assistance.' The 
term \ assistance ' which the Bishop not infre- 
quently uses in reference to God, or the Holy 



* Refut. p. 54, 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election* 265 

Spirit, is extremely equivocal, as applicable to 
very different and almost opposite ideas. The 
effectual ' assistance ' which a vigorous parent 
gives to a helpless child, differs much from the 
occasional and feeble 6 assistance' which an aged 
parent affords to a son who is qualified to take 
the lead in every important undertaking. A 
fisherman, after having hoisted the sail of his 
boat, is 6 assisted' by the wind; and he again 
assists the wind by the skilful plying of his oars. 
In short, the phrase 4 divine assistance' maybe 
used in a lax way by persons of contrary senti- 
ments, as to the -nature and degree of that assist- 
ance. It is true, there is a co-operation between 
the Spirit of God and the spirit of man, and 
this is fully admitted by his Lordship, though 
he professes that he cannot account for it. • In 
'what manner, or in what proportion, if I may 
' so say, God and man co-operate, I am utterly 
6 unable to explain or discover.' # I will ven- 
ture an opinion, however, that the subject itself 
is neither undiscoverable, nor inexplicable; — 
and that the obscurity is not in his Lordship's 
intellect, but in some false principle that hangs 
over the subject as an impenetrable veil. As 
long as any one clings to a principle so useless, 
so unmeaning, so self-contradictory and demon- 
strably absurd, as that of free-will being a self* 

* Refut, p. 35 a 



266 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch* hi* 



determining power, under whatever terms that 
principle may be couched, it is by no means 
hazardous to predict that he never can 6 explain 

* or discover in what manner or in what pro- 

* portion God and man co-operate/ Let the 
incrustation formed by this false principle — an 
assumption no less degrading to the human 
mind that adopts it, than affronting to the spirit 
of truth and grace — let this covering, be re- 
moved (and may it be removed from every 
mind,) and the glorious truth will shew itself. 
God is the scarce of all active power; from him 
" every good gift, and every perfect gift " pro- 
ceedeth : he is the author of every good prin- 
ciple in the moral as well as in the natural 
world. But the will of man, as w T ell as every 
other will, is determined by some principle ; 
and when to an act morally good, by a good 
principle. Consequently, God, according to his 
purpose and grace, is the sole and exclusive 
cause of every motive that actually determines 
a free agent to choose and act virtuously. Of 
every thought, desire, effort, exertion, and ope- 
ration, that is truli/ good, God is the true parent, 
u according to the counsel of his own will." If 
our work be good, it is because God worketh 
in us ; for except his operation in us were good, 
our works would be certainly evil. But as no evil 
principle of action can possibly proceed from him ; 
the evil of our work is exclusively our own* 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election, 267 

§ 31. In the face of so much evidence to 
the contrary, the Bishop draws this general 
inference respecting the 17th Article: 'It 
4 appears, then, that the Calvinistic doctrines of 
' Election and Reprobation are not only not 
4 maintained in this Article, but that they are 

* disclaimed and condemned in the strongest 
4 terms.'* To some parts of this remarkable 
sentence, in a divided sense, I do not object. 
For instance, it does not appear that the doc- 
trine of reprobation, as taught by Calvin, and 
some others distinguished by his name, is main- 
tained in this Article. But to say that the Cal- 
vinistic doctrine of election ' is not maintained 
4 in this Article,' is to overstep the bounds of 
polemical candour, and offend against the inge- 
nuity that is solicited to make the assertion 
plausible. But through what medium did the 
Bishop view the Article when he concluded in 
his mind, and communicated by his pen, that in 
it Election is 6 disclaimed and condemned/ in the 
strongest terms?' Where is even Reprobation 

* condemned, ' much less in 6 the strongest 
' terms ? ' If we deal in assertions without 
proofs, we may boldly affirm that red is blue, 
or that white is black. 

§ .32. In what manner, however, does his 



* Refut. p. 269. 



268 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



Lordship attempt to prove that the Predestina- 
tion of the 1 7th Article is not Calvinistic ? I 
hesitate, and enquire, Is it possible for a learned 
prelate to choose for his middle term, his own 
assumed sense of the Article ? The sentence of 
Predestination he has been considering, it seems, 
is that 4 by which God purposed and decreed 
c to save all who shall believe and obey the 
e gospel,' a c merciful and consolatory doctrine !* 
But the Calvinistic Predestination is attended 
with ■ much mischief and danger :' Therefore, 
the Calvinistic doctrine of Election is not in- 
tended in the Article. This is, truly, not a 
common mode of arguing with convincing rea- 
soners, — and indeed is much about as admissible 
as the following : The Calvinistic doctrine that 
secures the happiness of some, " is full of sweet, 
pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly per- 
sons f But the Tomlinistic Predestination which 
consists in \ making known the gospel of Christ/ 
and in c making a conditional offer of salvation 
6 to men,' without any purposed certainty of sal- 
vation to any individuals, must be most gloomy 
and dreadful; because on this plan it is possible, 
if not probable, or even certain, that no human 
being will ever be saved; Therefore, the 17th 
Article which administers comfort, is for the 
Calvinists and against his Lordship ! 



§ 33. There are two points totally overlooked, 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 269 

which yet ought to be ascertained in order to 
an accurate view of the Article. First, whether 
the compilers had in view two kinds of predesti- 
nation, one full of comfort, and the other tend- 
ing to desperation : next, whether the very same 
kind of Predestination may not be to the godly 
pleasant and comfortable, but to the H carnal 
and curious," the reverse. I see no reason to 
infer, that the compilers referred to any other 
doctrine than that which they thought to be 
necessarily included in " Predestination to life." 
Yet I think it highly probable, that they were 
not free from the prevailing, though unfounded, 
sentiment, that predestination to life implied a 
predestination to death, although they very 
prudently did not express it. Whatever were 
their views of reprobation, however, they say 
nothing about it. The Article expressly treats 
of Predestination to life, which clearly must be 
the same as Election. Now if they had respect 
to two kinds of Predestination, one to life and 
the other to death, and if they thought these 
* inseparable,'— one is expressed and the other 
implied* Godly persons dread neither part, and 
w curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit 
of Christ," can find no comfort in either. Those 
" who love God, and are the called according 
to his purpose," know that " all things work 
together for their good but the ungodly, who 
neither love God nor have the Spirit of Christ, 



270 Modern Calvinism Depended. ch. hi. 



are disposed to quarrel with the conduct of 
Providence, with the divine purposes, and indeed 
with the divine Perfections, — and if so, it is no 
wonder if they quarrel with themselves, and 
rush either into desperation and suicide, " Or 
into wretchedness of most unclean living." It 
must be remembered, however, that a far greater 
proportion of those who run into such wicked- 
ness and folly, are the opposers of Calvinism. 
And it further deserves to be recollected, that 
no one is supposed by the Article to abuse the 
doctrine, but " curious and carnal persons ; " 
who also abuse the bounties of Providence, only 
by slower steps, to their everlasting ruin. 

§ 34. I will now add, that the " Predesti- 
nation to life" maintained in this volume, is 
precisely the same as what is expressed in the 
I7th Article. But if the framers of it believed, 
as the Bishop of Lincoln professes to do, that a 
decree of Election is I inseparable' from a decree 
of Non-Election, I differ from them as well as 
his Lordship, for reasons before adduced. If 
there be any thing terrific in the sound of Pre- 
destination, it must be from false associations ; 
whereby persons darkly ascribe to Gods purpose 
the evil no less than the good. Let this mist of 
€rror roll away, and the doctrine appears as 
cheering as the sun, from which proceed neither 
cold nor darkness, but light, and warmth, and 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election* 2? I 

vivifying influence. What advantage can the 
Bishop's view offer, which this does not com- 
prehend? None. This includes no evil any 
more than his ; but it includes more good. Does 
he hold a decree 4 to make known the gospel 
< of Christ/ and ' a gracious purpose of God, to 
1 make a conditional offer of salvation to men, 

* through the merits of Christ?' So do we. Does 
he discard a purpose of excluding any ? So do 
we. What then is the difference? His Lord- 
ship's predestination denies any divine influence 
that shall make the salvation of any individual 
certain; a doctrine assuredly fraught with the 
most dismal gloom, and inexpressibly degrading 
to the mercy and grace of God ! Ours, on the con- 
trary, while it takes away nothing, but allows every 
natural faculty, and religious advantage indiscri- 
minately, which the other can possibly require, 
ensures the spiritual vivification, the renovation, 
the holiness, the voluntary and cordial obe- 
dience of some. And who are these ? The very 
same persons as those whom the Bishop acknow- 
ledges will be saved ! There is no dispute about 
how many, or how few. They are precisely 
those to whom the Judge will say, " Come, ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the 
world." On both schemes, the Calvinistic and 
the Anticalvinistic, they who £ attain to ever- 

* lasting felicity' are identically the same, On 



272 Modern Calvinism Defended. cm. hi. 



both schemes, men must have the same quali- 
fications for heaven, and all shall be judged 
according to their works. " They that have 
done good shall come forth . unto the resurrection 
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the 
resurrection of damnation." We desire none to 
be brought to heaven in virtue of Predestination 
or Election, but those who are actually suitable 
in their state, temper, and conduct, to see God 
and to enjoy him for ever; in short, none but 
those who shall be introduced by the final judge. 
These we call the Elect: they reckon them- 
selves, when they have done all, unprofitable 
servants, and cry out, " Not unto us, not unto- 
us, O Lord, but unto thy name give praise." 
Had it not been for thy discriminating mercy 
and special grace, we should never have in- 
herited these realms of \ everlasting felicity.' 

§ 35. His Lordship supposes that there was 
no difference between Judas and the other 
apostles, except good works. \ If the Calvinists 
* say, that Judas was never in reality one of the 
c elect, we may ask, what proof they can bring 
' of any difference between him and the other 
eleven apostles except works?'* What we 
say is, that as Judas is not in heaven, he was 
not elected to be there; and all who are there. 



* Refut. p. 209. 



se-ct. in. On Predestination and Election. 2] 3 

or ever shall be there, attained to that end, and 
to all the requisite steps leading to it, in virtue 
of a divine purpose, or " the election of 
grace." We allow that Judas was, in another 
sense, one of the elect; he was chosen to be an 
apostle, he was endowed with apostolic gifts, 
he was favoured with extraordinary privileges, 
and probably did many wonderful works in the 
name of Christ, which were also in a sense 
c good,' as conducing to the good of men and 
the advancement of Christ's kingdom. 4 What 
1 proof of deference, except works?' If by 
'works' be meant the root and branches of 
moral actions^ the principle as well as the act, 
all the difference as to his state at any given 
time was indeed constituted by ' works,' for he 
had within him. the germ of avarice, treachery, 
and ingratitude. If it be said, that his former 
good works were an evidence that- he once had 
a good principle; I ask, what good work did 
Judas ever do which was a decided proof of a 
good principle of action ? Are we to presume 
that he had it, except we can prove the con- 
trary? What! are we to conclude that men 
have supreme love to God, and a saving spirit- 
of faith and repentance, until they break forth 
into dishonesty and treachery? Are there no 
hypocrites in the Church of Christ? And is 
there no c difference' between a hypocrite and a 
sincere disciple, until the veil be drawn aside? 



274 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. hi, 

§ 36. There was one striking c difference ' 
between Peter and Judas, as to the divine pur- 
pose, independently of i works.' Peter, having 
"the root of the matter" in . him, notwith- 
standing his lamentable fall, was still an object 
of special care and preservation. " And the 
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath 
desired to have you, that he may sift you as 
wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith 
fail not"* Peter had a spark, or a vital 
principle of faith, which the force of temptation 
was not suffered to extinguish. He, of whom 
it was said that he should " not break the 
bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, 
until he brought forth judgment to victory," 
took a special interest in Peter's recovery. " I 
have prayed for thee." And what was the 
subject matter of the prayer? " That thy faith 
fail not." N.ow what proof is there that Judas 
ever had a principle of lively saving ' faith ? ? 
Did he ever perform any £ work' that proved he 
was no hypocrite at the time, or that he had 
the true fear and love of God, with a sincere 
and decided attachment to Jesus? In short, 
good works are the best criterion whereby to 
judge of characters and principles in our inter- 
course with each other, and this our Lord has 
clearly sanctioned by his conduct towards Judas; 



* Luke xxii. 31, 32. 



sect. On Predestination and Election. 

but it would be erroneous to infer, that there 
was no difference between Judas and the other 
apostles, except in e tvo?-ks, 9 in the obvious and 
-natural acceptation of this term, inasmuch as 
there is abundant proof that Jesus> who knew 
his heart, regarded him as a hypocrite, and a 
traitor, before any of the other disciples enter- 
tained a suspicion of his faithless principle. 
" For Jesus knew from the beginning who they 
were who believed not, and who should betray 
him."* Had Judas possessed a principle of 
faith like Peter, why not pray for the former 
as well as the latter? If he never had a faith 
like Peter's, which was a heavenly gift, as every 
spiritual principle is, then more had been done 
for Peter than for Judas, independent of 'works.' 
To imagine that such a favour was conferred on 
Peter rather than Judas, on the ground of their 
different good works foreseen, is subversive of 
itself; because no works are supposed to exist 
in future, but what sprung from the favour then 
conferred. The reward supposed is a good 
principle, the spirit of faith, without which it 
is impossible to please God ; how then can this 
faith, without which no works are good, be the 
reward of good works ? But if the difference 
be not of works, it must be of sovereign grace ; 
whereby the other apostles were more highly 



* John vi. 64, 



276 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. hi. 



favoured than Judas, though what he had in 
common with the others, and wickedly abused, 
rendered him altogether inexcusable. 

§ 37. We are again told, that the general 
terms of God's love are irreconcilable with his 
electing some and leaving others to perish. 
6 "God so loved the world, that he gave his 
6 only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
' him should not perish, but have everlasting 
c life." In this and many other passages of the 
i New Testament, relating to the motive and 
6 design of Christ's Advent, God's love for the 
* world is declared in general terms ; and surely 
c these texts are irreconcilable with the idea, of 
c God selecting out 'of mankind a certain num- 
' ber whom he ordained to save, and of his 
' leaving the rest of mankind to perish everlast- 
6 inghv * The difficulty here, is to find out 
some degree of plausibility in the objection. 
For what is there like inconsistency, between a 
general love to mankind, and a more special love 
to some of them, under the direction of uner- 
ring wisdom ? Love and hatred indeed are irre- 
concilable, except when used in a comparative 
sense, as they are often used in scripture; as 
when hatred denotes a less degree of love. Thus 
a true disciple should "hate" (i. e. love in a less 



* Refut. p. 195. 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election. 277 



degree) his father and mother, &c. for the sake 
of Christ : and thus God loved Jacob, but did 
not love Esau to the same degree, or in the 
same respect. It was a great instance of divine 
love that God should give his son as an all- 
sufficient ransom for the, sins of mankind ; but 
great as it was, if nothing more were done, 
every soul of man might perish everlastingly. 
We have need, in order to have a good hope 
through grace, and an inheritance among them 
that are sanctified, to be redeemed by power as 
well as by price. The sacrifice of Christ is the 
ransom, but the Spirit of Christ is the redeem- 
ing power that makes " free from the law of 
sin and death," 

§38. ' Leaving the rest of mankind to perish 
' everlastingly.' Is it conceivable that God 
could not save one soul more than will be even- 
tually saved? Then that soul which will not 
be found among the saved eventually, will be 
i left' by him to perish everlastingly, on the 
Bishops own system. If it be said, that in the 
latter case it was their own fault, and no arbi- 
trary decree, which denied them the means of 
salvation ; I return precisely the same answer 
respecting the former case. There is no arbi- 
trary decree, as before shewn at large, to the 
injury or the annoyance of any portion of God's 
universe of intelligent beings, (or indeed particle 



278 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. hi. 

of created existence of any kind, if that expres- 
sion be more acceptable,) without previous 
demerit. If any one of the human race be 
disposed to go to heaven, on the declaration 
and assurance of God's general love to the 
world of mankind, I am fully satisfied that there 
neither is, nor can be, any decree of God to 
prevent him. Jesus Christ has " opened the 
kingdom of heaven to all believers ;" nor is there 
any decree to prevent any one from believing 
in Christ as the way to the kingdom. But God, 
foreseeing that none will believe, repent, obey, 
or fall in with his general love and proclamation 
of mercy, if left to themselves, will ensure a 
" seed to serve him," both on earth and in 
heaven. 

§ 39. Finally, his Lordship insists, that 
election is not conjined to those who will actually 
be saved. ' The word [elect] is applied gene- 
c rally to collective bodies of Christians, to all 

* who in one or more cities or countries professed 
i Christianity, without any discrimination; and 
€ it is not confined to individuals who must 
< necessarily be saved, or who were predestinated 

* by God to certain salvation ; or even to those 
6 who will actually be saved.' # Now, admitting 
all this, what is the fair inference, but that the 



* Refut. p. 206. 



sect. in. On Predestination and Election, 279 



word " elect," in common with many others, 
admits of different significations. There is an 
election to gospel privileges, to church fellow- 
ship and. a participation of sacraments, &c. ; but 
this is no argument against an election to partake 
of special grace and future glory. A choice 
made of collective bodies, does not exclude 
another more special choice of individuals 
among them, who were " redeemed from among 
men," and from that collective body, to partake 
of a divine principle, a lively saving faith, to 
<c walk in white," and " by patient continuance 
in well-doing," to inherit eternal life and glory, 
— These are his Lordship's principal objections, 
and virtually the whole of his objections, as far 
as I can perceive. The reader will judge whe- 
ther they have been fairly answered, 



Chap. IV. 



SOME THINGS ARE ASCRIBED BY HIS LORDSHIP, TO 
CALVINISTS, WHICH ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO THEM. 

Sect. I. 

Some things are imputed to Cahinisis, which belong to 
no existing Sect of Christians. 

§ 1,2. That the Calvinists seem to trust in the grace of Simon Magus ; 
and § 3. To maintain that matter is incapable of salvation. § 4. 
That there are two sorts of men formed by Angels. § 5. That 
some men are good and others bad by Nature. ^ 6. That men have 
earthly, spiritual, and middle natures. § 7. That some are autho- 
rized to sin because of their perfection — examined. 

§ 1. The Calvinistic reader will probably 
be surprised to learn from the Bishop of Lin- 
coln, that he is charged with believing in the 
grace of Simon Magus ! His Lordship quotes a 
great number of ■ Opinions of earliest Heretics 
1 greatly resembling the peculiar tenets of Cal- 
fi vinism and from the writings of Irexjeus 
this is one notable proof of it. £ " He says, 
' that one of the doctrines of Simon Magus was, 
c that those who trust in him [i. e. Simon Ma- 
' gus] and his Helena, should hare no further 
' care, and that they are free to do what they 
i like ; for that men are saved according to his 
* grace, [i, e. Simon Magus's grace] but not 



282 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv. 

* according* to just works." '* * The assertion of 

* Simon Magus, who is mentioned in the Acts 

* of the Apostles, and called by ecclesiastical 
' historians the first Christian heretic, that £ men 

* are saved according to his [i. e. Simon's] grace, 
s and not according to just works,' contains in it 
s the esse?ice of Calvinism ; and it clearly appears 
s that Iretoeus considered this as an heretical 

* opinion. 7 f Now, • I ask the reader, is there 
any existing sect, is there any individual on the 
face of the globe, who holds, or is ever likely to 
hold, this heretical opinion? Does any one pro- 
fessing Christianity in the present day u . trust 
in Simon Magus and his Helena," — and that 
men are saved according to iC Simon s grace " and 
not according to just works ? Is there any reader 
of the Refutation so credulous as to believe, 
that this heretical, monstrous opinion, 6 contains 

* in it the essence of Calvinism I ' Calvinists 
indeed believe and profess, that " we are saved 
by grace," that is, the grace of God, " through 
faith ;" and that all true Christians are " new- 
created unto good works," in which it is divinely 
" ordained that we should walk ; " and that 
Jesus Christ is become " the author of eternal 
salvation to all them that obey him " 

§ 2. Perhaps his Lordship thought that Cal- 



* Refut. p. 515. 



i lb. p. 571. 



sect. i. Imputations applicable to no existing Sect, 283 

vinists have no access to the works of Iren^eus, 
or that such atrocious heretics do not under- 
stand Latin ! Is it sufficient to constitute the 
similarity, that both Simon and Calvin adopted 
the word "Grace" to express their tenets re- 
spectively? On this supposition, the Bishop 
himself cannot easily escape. What however, 
does Iren^us say? "Prophetas autem a mundi 
fabricatoribus Angelis inspiratos dixisse pro- 
phetias : quapropter nec ulterius curarent eos, 
hi qui in eum et in Selenen [vel, Helenam] ejus 
spem habeant, et ut liberos agere qu?e velint : se- 
cundum enim ips'ms gratiam salvari homines, sed 
non secundum operas justas."* That is, "That 
the prophets uttered -their predictions as inspired 
by angels, who are the creators of the world : 
wherefore, they who trust in him and in his 
Helena need no further care; and, being free, they 
may act as they please : moreover, that men are 
saved according to his grace, but not according 
to just works," Here is not one word about the 
grace of God, but all about the grace of Simon 
Magus, and of his Helena, a Tyrian strumpet 
that he carried about with him ! And as Simon 
blasphemously declared himself to be " God the 
Father," so he conferred on this woman the 
honourable title of " the mother of all ! " . So 
much for the heresy of Simon Magus ' greatly 



* Irenvei opera, p. 116. Ed, 1639. 



284 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. it. 



' resembling the peculiar tenets of Calvinism ! ' 
Greatly resembling I 

% 3. Again, the Calvinists, -it seems ' greatly 
' resemble ' the Valentinians, who asserted, e that 
f matter is incapable of salvation.'— ' For as it is 
i impossible that the material should partake of 
' salvation (for they say it is not capable of it) so 
' again it is impossible that the spiritual, meaning 

* themselves, should be subject to corruption, 
'whatever conduct they pursue. — Wherefore, 
< those of them who are the most perfect, do 

* without fear all things which are forbidden.'* 
Calvinistic reader, did ever any mirror give you 
a more striking resemblance of yourself? As 
you are so like a Valentinian, of course you 
cannot believe that Jesus Christ is " the Saviour 
of the body," or that there is any resurrection 
of the dead. You must have expunged from 
your bible and your creed that Jesus Christ will 
" change this vile body, and make it like unto 
his glorious body." You must have renounced 
what the Valentinians (the very image of your- 
self) considered impossible, viz. that the mate- 
rial part of you should partake of salvation, a 
salvation of which it is 6 not capable.' While 
you so nearly resemble these heretics, you must 
hold it an impossibility that you should be sub- 



* Refut. p. 513, 514. From Iren^us. 



sect. I. Imputations applicable to no existing Sect. 285 

ject to corruption of any kind, * whatever con- 
' duct you pursue.' And as you believe your- 
self to be one of the most perfect of human 
beings, you cannot scruple to u do without fear 
all things which are forbidden." But if you dis- 
own the resemblance, can you point out any 
other existing sect of Christians who bear it? 

§• 4. The Calvinists are represented as hold- 
ing tenets resembling the heresy of Saturninus, 
viz. That there are two sorts of men formed by 
angels. ' " He (Saturninus) first asserted, that 
' there are two sorts of men formed by the 
' angels, the one good, the other bad. And, 
* because demons assist the worst men, that the 
6 Saviour came to destroy bad men and demons, 
' but to save good men." ?# This is the whole 
of the quotation, and therefore some part of it 
at least must be intended as a resemblance of 
Calvinism. But where shall we find it except 
in the first part, without involving the Bishop 
himself, who will allow, no doubt, that the 
Saviour came to save the good and to destroy 
the wicked among men as well as evil spirits; 
and that demons assist the worst of men by 
diabolical temptations. It remains then, that if 
there be any thing peculiar to Calvinism re- 
sembling the heresy of Saturninus, it must be 



* Refut. p. 515. From Xrexaws. 



286 MODER n Calvinism Depended, tn. iv» 

the formation of two sorts of men by the angels! 
An attempt to defend Calvinism from this 
charge, would be an insult to the readers' know- 
ledge and common sense* But we may just put 
the question, Is there any existing sect of Chris- 
tians that holds an opinion bearing any resem- 
blance to this heresy ? 

§ 5. Again, The Calvinists are charged With 
resembling the heresy of the Valenthiians, by 
maintaining, That some men are good and others 
bad, by nature. The following are two complete 
quotations brought for this purpose. ' " Sub- 
6 dividing souls themselves, they say that some 
8 are by nature good, and some by nature bad/'* 
* " They (the Valentinians) say, that some men 
6 are good by nature, and some bad/' 'f But 
where or when have the Calvinists, or even any 
one of them, maintained any thing resembling 
this notion ? Need I repeat our sentiments, 
that " God made man upright," but that since 
the fall of Adam, all his descendants are de- 
praved, and their corrupted nature is " inclined 
to evil?" We never say, that any men since 
the first apostacy are by nature " good." If they 
are made " good," it is by a gracious influence 
from God. Why excite the odium of one part 
of Christians against another, by feigning a 



* Refut. p. 514. + lb. 515. From Ikenjeus* 



?Ecf. s. Imputations applicable lo no existing Sect. 287 

resemblance to the Valentinian heresy, while no 
sect in the present day bears to it any degree of 
similarity ? 

§ 6. The Calvinists are charged with main- 
taining, That men have earthly, spiritual, and 
middle natures. * " When you hear the expres- 
' sion J to whom it is given,' do not adopt any 

* heretical notion ; do not fancy that there are 
4 different natures, earthly, spiritual, and middle 
4 natures. For certain persons are so ill disposed, 
1 as to imagine that some are of a nature which 

* must absolutely perish, others of a nature which 
< must be saved ; and that a third sort are so 
' circumstanced, according as their will may 

* lead them to vice or to virtue." '* If any 
persons are " so ill disposed," they must of 
course be the Calvinists of the present day : but 
as among these we seek in vain for this crude, 
stale, ancient and long exploded philosophic 
dogma, among what existing sect of Christians 
shall we find it ? Truly, no where. It has dis- 
appeared for many ages, and it is to be ex- 
pected that it never will reappear, whatever 
dignified name may attempt to conjure up its 
ghost 

| 7* Calvinists must needs be heretics, it 



* lief at. p. 522. From Gregory of Nazianzen, 



288 Modern Calv inism Defended. ch. it. 



seems, because they hold, after the example of 
the odious Basilidians, that they are authorized 
to sin because of their perfection. For thus 
writes Clemens of Alexandria : ' " I have 
' quoted these words in reproof of the followers 
' of Basilides, who lead incorrect lives, as per- 
* sons who are authorized to sin because of their 
6 perfection ; or who will certainly be saved by 
' nature, even though they sin now, because of 
' an election founded in nature." '* Is it possible 
for every Calvinistic reader, not instantly to re- 
cognize his own likeness in this picture of the 
Basilidians drawn by Clemens, framed and set 
up by the Bishop of Lincoln, to be viewed by 
all the world as a ' great resemblance ? ' Un- 
doubtedly no reprobation can be too severe for 
those, if any such there are, who with the fol- 
lowers of Basilides, " authorize themselves to 
sin because of their perfection" — that imagine, 
under whatever pretence, that they "will certainly 
be saved by nature"' But for the Calvinists — his 
Lordship may rest assured that they abominate 
the Basilidian fraternity, and these monstrous 
dogmas, equally with himself. I will venture 
to affirm indeed that they would find it difficult 
to point out any other sect of the present age 
bearing any resemblance to them, — or even 
to form any charitable guess, how the right 



* Refut. p. 517. 



sect. I. Imputations applicable to no existing Sect. 289 

reverend prelate came to imagine a resemblance ? 
Seriously, by such modes the pen of contro- 
versy becomes an instrument of discord among 
brethren, and he who employs it, to use a 
homely but not unapt expression " lets himself 
down," 



290 ModeAn Calvinism Defended. ch. iv, 



Sect. IL 

Some things imputed to Calvinists in a sense which they 

DISOWN. 

§1,2, That all Christian graces are communicated by the sole operation 
of the Spirit, without any concurrence on the part of Man. § 3, 
That Faith does not require any voluntary steps, or exercise, but is 
forced. ^ 4* That the control of sinful passions, is physicaltg 
impossible. $ 5.- That irresistible grace necessarily and solely 
produces a godly life. 

$ 6. That Calvinists lay claim to private revelations. $ 7. Pretend to 
instantaneous and forcible conversions. $ 8. 'to the sensible ope- 
ration of the Spirit. §9 — 11. To Experiences, as suggestions or 
perceptions by immediate inspiration. 

% £2. That they maintain sinless obedience and incorrigible pollution. 
§ 13. That man has no concern in working out salvation. § 14. A 
moral incapacity tending to melancholy or profligacy. § 15, 16. 
Preach Faith so as to encourage licentiousness. § 17. Are incon- 
sistent in holding salvation through Faith alone. 

§ I. His Lordship imputes .to Calvinists 
this notion, — that all Christian graces are com- 
municated by the sole operation of the Spirit 
This he states as one of their positions, as con- 
stituting ail extreme opposite to the Socinians : 

* that faith and all the Christian graces are com- 

* municated by the sole and irresistible opera- 
6 tion of the Spirit of God, without any endea- 
6 vour or concurrence on the part of man.' # 
Our sentiments are not here fairly stated, be- 
cause the terms c faith 5 and £ Christian graces/ 



* Refuf. p. 2, 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned. 291 

are used by us in one sense, and by the Bishop 
in another. We, according to the scripture* 
consider " faith" in one sense as the gift of 
God, and in another, as the duty of man. The 
spirit of faith, or the spiritual principle, is the 
gift of God, preventing or preceding, and ex- 
citing the will to believe, according to just 
evidence, the whole testimony of God. But 
the act of believing that testimony is ours, and 
implies an " endeavour and concurrence on the 
part of man." Each of these ideas we, accord- 
ing to the circumstances of the case, express 
by the word faith: and indeed the scripture 
authorizes us to use the term as denoting other 
ideas beside these principal ones; particularly 
the object believed. The blessed Saviour is 
called the author and finisher of faith, i. e. the 
gospel believed by us ; and Paul after his con- 
version is said to preach the faith which he 
once destroyed. 

§ 2. Similar distinctions may be made on 
the term " grace." Thus we maintain that 
c Christian graces,' as to the renovating prin- 
ciple, are from the sole operation of the Spirit 
of God, in contradistinction from the assumed 
notion of a self-determining power in the human 
will to renovate the heart; but the exercised 
* Christian graces' which require a perceived 
object of their existence, imply an ' endeavour 



292 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. ir. 

c or concurrence on the part of man.' Thus, it 
is not the Holy Spirit, but we ourselves, by 
virtue of his assistance, love God and our 
neighbour, fear the Lord and the glory of his 
majesty, trust in him at all times, rejoice, with 
trembling in contemplation of promised bles- 
sings and our own impotence amid surrounding 
dangers, and hope for distant good things pro- 
mised. And thus St. Paul terms " love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance," which are exercised 
* Christian graces,' " the fruit of the Spirit." * 
Their origin and principle is from the Spirit, 
but considered as exercised by us, they are 
properly ours. The term " grace " is also used 
frequently in scripture for exhibited favour ; as 
" the grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath 
appeared unto all men " the gospel of the 
grace of God," &c. 

§ 3. In the same manner we fairly meet a 
great variety of similar insinuations and charges 
with which the "Refutation" abounds. Among 
these we might notice, for instance, that be- 
lieving does not include an act of the will: 
< These commands to ask, to seek, and to knock, 
1 prove, that our Saviour required some voluntary 
1 steps to be still taken by those who were 



* Gal. v. 22, 23. See also Eph. t. 9. 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned, 293 

' already persuaded of the divine origin of the 
e doctrines he taught.'* An incautious reader 
of the " Refutation" might be led to suppose^ 
that the Calvinists deny what is' here proved ; 
whereas, in fact, we maintain it not less strenu* 
ously than his Lordship. Again : 1 We are au~ 
' thorized to attribute their faith to the vplun* 
4 tary exercise of their reason.'f What Calvi- 
nist ever maintained that " faith," in the sense 
of believing a testimony, does not include ' the 
4 voluntary exercise of reason ? 3 Moreover ; 

* Now it must be allowed, that it is one thing 
' to give a man power to act, another to force 
( him to act.' The reader of this remark might 
be induced to think that the Calvinists held 
the latter idea. We hold, however, no such 
thing ; but, that the Spirit gives the power ? 
while the will acts freely, 

§ 4. ( It is only contended," says the Bishop, 
' that the temporary or occasional control of 

* their sinful passions was never physically im- 
\ possible.' ^ By his Lordship professing to 4 con- 
4 tend 5 this point, the idea is excited in his 
reader's mind, that Calvinists hold a £ physical* 
as contradistinguished from a moral impossibi- 
lity ; whereas the contrary is the notorious fact. 
All the 6 impossibility,' we hold, of controlling 



* Rcfut. p. 15. + lb, p.48. | lb. p. & 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv. 

sinful passions, is a prevailing criminal indispo- 
sition to do so. ( Even St. Paul allowed the 
c possibility of his having received the grace of 
c God ' in vain/ and surely the same possibility 
6 must be" admitted with respect to all other 
s Christians.'* Surely it was very 4 possible * 
both for Paul and c all other Christians' to 
" receive the grace of God in vain " if left to 
themselves, or to their unassisted free - will. 
Election does not operate as a charm, to the 
exclusion of the intermediate steps of " keeping 
the body under and bringing it into subjec- 
tion, &c." — 6 The Spirit helps, but docs not compel 
us.'f Very true, for in whatever respect we 
are compelled, in the same respect we are not 
free; and freedom is essential to accountability. 
But why should the reader's mind be led to 
suppose that Calvinists hold, as a part of their 
creed, a c compulsion ' which is inconsistent with 
moral agency ? To the same effect is the fol- 
lowing insinuation : ' By the suggestion there- 
i fore, and with the help, of God's grace, we 
1 endeavour to follow the example of Chrisr 3 

* which shews that the grace of God does not 
6 dct with compulsory force, but only directs and 

* assists our endeavours.' J What reader, who 
was not previously better informed, could avoid 
supposing that the Calvinists held the absurd 

* Refut. p. 32. f lb. p. 40. % lb. p. 09. f 



sect. II. Imputations in a Sense Disowned, 295 

notion of ' compulsory force ' rather than divine 
assistance ? They differ indeed from his Lord- 
ship, respecting the precedency of that assist- 
ance—but utterly disclaim the notion of \ com- 
r pulsory force.' 

§ 5. 6 Were grace irresistible, we are told, 
6 did it necessarily and solely produce a godly life, 
6 there would be no room for faithfulness on our 
6 part.' # Here the words marked in italics ap- 
pear to be applied to us in a sense which we 
disown. When we use the word 'irresistible' 
in connexion with c grace,' we do not suppose 
that no kind of resistance may be made to 
' grace * in any sense. St. Stephen says to the 
envious and persecuting Jews, " Ye do alway 
resist the Holy Ghost." They and their fore- 
fathers were in the habit of resisting the Holy 
Ghost, as to his holy words, his holy prophets, 
his miraculous gifts and operations, the holy 
tendency of the evidence he afforded, &c. There 
is a kind of resistance implied in " quenching 
the Spirit," as to the flame of holy affections of 
which he is the original cause ; and when any 
temper of mind is indulged, when any thing is 
done, or any duty omitted which has this ten- 
dency, in that respect, and to that degree, the 
Holy Spirit may be said to be quenched. 



* Refut. p. 70, 



296 Mo dern Calvinism Defended. ch. it. 



Throwing water upon a flame may be called 
quenching it, for that is the real tendency of 
that act, whatever may be the final result. So 
Christians are warned against a weak 

brother by uncharitable conduct, for that is the 
tendency of such conduct, — the very reverse of 
edification. What we profess, therefore, is, that 
the operations of the Holy Spirit in the saints, 
will prove efficacious and victorious, over " the 
world, the flesh, and the devil," when God 
purposes that event, whatever momentary resist- 
ance may be ungratefully made. In this sens« 
Calvinists have sometimes said, that grace is 
' irresistible;' though the other terms just men- 
tioned appear more strictly accurate. Whereas 
the Bishop explains its import by the words 
i necessarily and solely producing a godly life* 
which we disown, except in a qualified sense, 
a sense perfectly compatible with free-agency 
and moral obligation. Necessity in the accep- 
tation of certainty, is one thing, but necessity 
in the acceptation of force or compulsion, is 
another. And grace ' solely ' producing a good 
principle of action, denotes a very different idea 
from the same grace producing 4 solely ' a 
< godly life.' 

§ 6. The Bishop remarks, that ( the real 
1 orthodox divine maintains — that every true 
s Christian is inspired, enlightened, sanctified, 



I 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned. 297 

( and comforted by the Spirit of God/ I am 
happy to learn from his Lordship's own pen, 
that the modern Calvinists are ( orthodox,' thus 
far. But is there not " a fly in their pot of 
ointment?" For ' the real orthodox divine — 
•' rejects all claim to private revelation, all pre- 
i tensions to instantaneous and forcible conver- 
< sion, and to the sensible operation of the 
' Spirit ; in short, he disclaims what in the lan- 
6 guage of modern Calvinists, are called expe- 
' riences ; that is, suggestions or perceptions, 
6 known and felt to be communicated by the 
6 immediate inspiration of God.'* Here indeed 
many " flies" are brought to buz around the 
Calvinistic " pot," and it is but too apparent that 
the Bishop of Lincoln has wasted much of his 
time and ingenuity in labouring to force them 
in, — but with little success. For where has his 
Lordship learnt that Calvinists lay claim to 
* private revelations?' We £ reject' the claim 
in the sense here insinuated. We profess that 
divine revelation of truth for the use of the 
church and all its members is complete in the 
canon of scripture, and that no Christian ought 
to expect a 1 private' revelation of any new 
truths which are not there revealed. But if by 
6 revelation' be meant a spiritual discovery of 
the, real meaning of religious truth, as the effect 



* Refut. p. 73, 



298 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. it. 



of being ' enlightened ' by the Spirit of God ; 
we acknowledge it. But then, does not his 
Lordship claim the very same for ' the real 
orthodox divine?' 

§ 7. Much has been said of late about c instan- 
€ famous and forcible conversion/ Now granting 
that any Calvinists have used such phrases in re- 
gard to some very rare instances of conversion — 
as perhaps in the case of Colonel Gardner, and 
a few others — is it candid to interpret them 
capriciously, in a sense never intended by the 
writers or speakers ; nay, in a sense which the}^ 
explicitly disavow? One is led to suppose 
from the Bishop's statement, that Calvinists 
urge the necessity, or at least the importance, of 
conversion being 6 instantaneous.' But, I appeal 
to their writings, to their sermons, and to the 
constant plan of instruction pursued by them 
in their families, in evidence that they avowedly 
disclaim any such opinion. That an * instanta- 
( neous' change of heart, and a consequent 
speedy change of mental operations and of con- 
duct, may take place, and in some striking 
instances actually do take place, we frankly 
acknowledge, as not incompatible with the real 
state of man, nor with the gracious power of 
him " who commanded the light to shine out 
of darkness." The gracious pleasure of the 
Almighty is not to be limited by the precoiu 



sect. ii. Imptttations in a Sense Disowned. 299 

ceived opinions of puny mortals. Far be it 
from us to prescribe to the Ailwise God, when 
he must influence the minds of his creatures, 
or how instantaneously or gradually. We regard 
it as of incomparably greater importance to turn 
men's attention to their own hearts and lives, 
" to examine themselves whether they are in the 
faith," and to walk worthy of their e< professed 
subjection to the gospel of Christ." And as to 
c forcible conversion,' in the obnoxious sense 
intended in the objection, we reject the senti- 
ment; while we plead that conversion, whether 
slow or sudden, is an effect of divine gracious 
power influencing the heart 

§ 8. It is further objected to modern Calvi- 
nists, that they pretend to ' the sensible operation 
s of the Spirit.' As this is imputed to us a devi- 
ation from orthodoxy, we have a right to ask 
his Lordship, what he means by the word 
* sensible' in this connexion? Surely he is too 
candid and just to impute to us the gross absur- 
dity of holding as a religious tenet, that the 
operations of the Holy Spirit are subjectec, or 
made visible, audible, or tangible, to our corpo- 
real senses. But if he mean only, that we hold 
the effects of divine operations to be ' sensible,' 
in the acceptation of " apprehensible ;" or that 
we may be " conscious" of effects which can 
be rationally ascribed to no other cause; we 



300 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



CH. iV* 



must stand convicted: Who, indeed, that is con* 
scions of loving God supremely, or of loving the 
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, can rationally 
ascribe such effects to any other source than 
divine operation? " If our heart condemn us 
not, then have we confidence towards God." 
" By this we know that we have passed from 
death to life, because we love the brethren." 
" Examine yourselves whether ye be in the 
faith; what, know ye not your own selves?" If 
Christians may not be ' sensible ' or conscious- 
of gracious effects in their own minds, what 
rational interpretation can be given of these 
passages of holy writ, and many others of the 
same import and tendency ? In this acceptation 
of the phrase; 4 the sensible operation of the 
' Spirit/ which is the only one we acknowledge* 
does not 6 the real orthodox divine' concur 
with us? 

§ 9. 6 The real orthodox divine/ we are 
again informed, 6 disclaims what in the lan- 
c guage of modern Calvinists, are called expe- 
c Hemes} This expression is certainly to be 
found in the Calvinistic nomenclature. But 
what is meant by it? Is it, some enthusiastic 
* suggestiojis or perceptions known and felt to 
6 be communicated by the immediate Inspiration 
i of God?' Nothing less. This "is only his 
Lordship's arbitrary interpretation of the term., 



m;c\\ ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned. 301 

When we speak of an * experienced ' Christian, we 
designate one who has learned spiritual wisdom 
by trials, and especially by mental exercises. 
When we speak of * experiences,' related or 
written, we mean those exercises of mind which 
are of a religious nature ; in other words, how 
our minds have been affected with the consider- 
ation of certain truths revealed in the scripture, 
or by the contemplation of God, of his provi- 
dence, and of our own state before him. That 
some persons, both Arminians and Calvinists, 
have not been entirely free from enthusiasm, in 
giving an account Gf their mental exercises, is 
not to be concealed. But who can say, with 
truth, that these occasional mistakes are counte- 
nanced by the party here accused ? We expect, 
very generally, of persons who wish to enter 
into communion w r ith us, some account of their 
religious sentiments, what effect these have 
had on their views and tempers, how they 
obtained relief when made sensible of their 
sinful nature and practice, by what means they 
were induced to repent and believe in Christ, &c. 
But do we ever expect to receive from them an 
account of ' suggestions and perceptions known 
4 and felt to be communicated by immediate in- 
1 spirafion in an e?ithasiastic sense ? No. If at 
any time, which very seldom happens, we dis- 
cover a propensity that way, we rather check it 
as wrong, -than encourage it as excellent. But 
if a person mention either the time, the place, 



302 Modern Calvinism Defended. c*h. tv* 



or the occasion of his undergoing any remarkable 
change, either of his views, his resolutions, 
his affections or conduct, we call it his ' ex- 
6 perience ;' if it be scriptural and rational, we 
approve it, if otherwise we disapprove it. 
We are not quite so destitute of discretion, 
as to imagine, that " all is gold that glisters :" 
and we can assure his Lordship, that many un- 
lettered rustics in our societies have delivered 
such ■ experiences 9 as the heart of a good man 
might rejoice to hear; manifesting in these 
simple records such acquaintance with their 
bibles, such improvement in religious know- 
ledge, such traits of Christian sincerity, of repen- 
tance and lively faith, such genuine humility, 
meekness and charity, as powerfully to fix the 
conviction, that there is a reality in religion, and 
that the kingdom of God consisteth not in 
word but in power. It is incumbent on me 
moreover to add, that we make it a rule, rather 
it is a rule made for us by scripture and reason, 
to institute suitable enquiries respecting their 
discharge of personal and relative duties, their 
moral character, and consistent deportment. 
And if admitted into our communion, we watch 
over them to see that they " adorn the doctrine 
of God our Saviour in all things." If they do 
not " walk worthy of the vocation wherewith 
they are called," we warn, admonish or re- 
prove them; if they backslide, we endeavour to 
"restore them in the spirit of meekness;" and 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned, SOS 

if any are not reclaimed by scriptural and 
prudential means, we exclude them from our 
communion. 

§ 10. I. appeal, to the impartial reader whe- 
ther our proceedings, as now related, be not 
founded on scripture, on right reason, and on 
just principles of a voluntary society, such as 
every Christian congregation ought to be? As. 
true religion does not consist merely in a set 
form of words, or even just notions of truth, but 
also in a great measure in an ' experience,' or a 
consciousness of the influence of truth on the 
heart, temper, and conduct ; " a congregation of 
Christian people," associating voluntarily for the 
worship of Almighty God, to promote his glory 
and the good of immortal souls, according to the 
directions of his word, have a right to expect 
an appropriate evidence of a similar design in 
every member of their communion. If any one 
appear to be essentially defective, on a charit- 
able construction, we reject his proposal, as 
proceeding from one who is more likely to injure 
than to promote the spiritual design of a Chris- 
tian church. But we do not sit as judges on 
his state towards God, as if we thought there 
was no salvation to be obtained without the pale 
of our communion. We do believe, however, 
that there is a kind of ' inspiration to be 
enjoyed by Christians, — and does not i the real 



504» Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv- 



* orthodox divine' believe the same, when he 
prays to God that he would " cleanse the 
thoughts and desires of his heart, by the inspi- 
ration of his holy Spirit?" If there be no such 
thing to be experienced, it must be a very 
unmeaning and presumptuous service, If he 
claims the use of it in a good sense, why may 
not the same sense be intended by a Calvinist? 
We hope and pray for a divine influence on our 
hearts, to enable us to love God, and to keep 
his commandments; in other words, that he 
will " have mercy on us, and incline our hearts 
to keep his laws." Surely, this inclining of the 
heart implies some kind of inspiration or influ- 
ence from the Spirit of God; — except men 
can satisfy themselves with words without a 
meaning. 

§11. As to ' suggestions and perceptions 
4 known and felt to be communicated by the 
e immediate inspiration of God, 5 which are 
expressions imposed upon us, rather than ap- 
proved by ourselves, we consider them as capable 
of a bad and a good sense. If by 6 suggestions' 
be meant mysterious whispers, or certain unac- 
countable intimations presented to the mind, 
unconnected with any truth revealed in the 
scriptures, we consider them as mere delusions : 
but we believe that the influences of the Spirit 
may animate, and exhilarate the soul, in its 



sect. II. Imputations in a Sense Disowned, 305 

contemplations and other religious exercises, so 
that the effects may be " known and felt." 
" The wind bloweth where it listeth," and 
though the manner of the operation be not 
known, the effects may be both known and 
sensibly experienced. The same may be ob- 
served of ' perceptions.' We may not, and 
ought not to expect to know the agent or the 
agency, yet the fruits and consequences may 
be of a nature entirely unequivocal, 

§ 12. The Bishop brings many other charges 
against us, which are founded entirely on a 
misinterpretation of our meaning. A few more 
specimens may be here mentioned. 1 It cannot 
' therefore be pretended that this article [on 
* original sin] gives any countenance to the 
' Calvinistic notions of sinless obedience and 
' unspotted purity in the elect, and of incorri- 
i gible pollution and inevitable wickedness in the 
i reprobate.' * It would, perhaps, be uncharitable 
to suppose that his Lordship invented this crude 
notion for the purpose of exposing Calvinism to 
contempt, yet I am utterly at a loss to conjecture 
where he found it. We acknowledge no 6 sinless 
6 obedience,' except the Redeemer s, in this world : 
but all who are true believers are " complete in 
him," that is, completely " accepted in the 

* Refut. p. 51. 



30(5 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. iv. 



beloved." Instead of professing ' unspotted 
purity, we lament our momentary imperfection 
" If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, 
and the truth is not in us ; but if we confess 
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our 
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 
Whatever some of the ancient Calvinists have ad- 
vanced about ' incorrigible pollution and ' inevit- 
4 able wickedness in the reprobate/ I hope none 
of the moderns approve either of the language 
or the sentiment. 

§ 13. His Lordship records the following 
as an error of the Calvinists, viz. 8 that man 
6 has no concern whatever in working out his 
' salvation : # but as he produces no evidence., 
a direct and explicit denial of the charge is 
sufficient. I may, however, observe, that some 
preachers, and perhaps writers, have used the 
phrase 6 a finished salvation ' in reference to 
Christ's obedience unto death, and in allusion io 
his own words "It is finished." And why 
should the Calvinist alone be denied the com- 
mon privilege of a candid interpretation ? In 
such connexion, the word ' salvation' must 
intend the basis of salvation, as the word rederrip- 
tlon is used for the price or the fundamental 
consideration of redemption. 

* Refut. p. 48. 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned. SO? 

§ 14. An unguarded reader of the Refutation 
might be induced to apply the following language 
to Calvinists indiscriminately. ' The equally ern> 
6 neous and baneful doctrine of moral incapacity % 
i in the extent unhappily adopted by Calvin, 
■ tends to produce hopeless melancholy, or hard- 
1 ened profligacy.' * By ' moral incapacity' we 
are naturally led to understand a disinclination^ 
a dislike, or a want of good will to what is 
right or excellent, in a moral sense. Now it 
would be difficult to find in the writings of 
Calvin a greater moral incapacity than is 
expressed in the formularies of the Church of 
England, especially in the Article " On original 
sin." However, neither Calvin nor any other 
person, ever expressed it in stronger terms than 
St. Paul, when he said, that " the carnal mind 
is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to 
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then 
they that are in the flesh cannot please God." -f 
— " The natural man receiveth not the things 
of the Spirit of God : for they are foolishness 
unto him ; neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned." J Is it possible 
for language to express a greater degree of 
" moral incapacity?" Indeed I allow and lament 
it, that Calvin and some others after him, 
have illegitimately inferred an " incapacity " 
beside what is " moral f I mean, an incapacity 



* Refut. p. 78, f Rom. viii. 7 5 8. +1 Cor. ii, 14, 



308 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv. 

implied in a supposed decree of reprobation. 
Nothing, I am persuaded, has more impeded the 
progress of theological and moral truth, or set 
the sentiments of real Christians more at vari- 
ance, than an attempt to establish this unfounded 
dogma. And to speak my mind impartially, I 
freely concede to his Lordship that its tendency 
is £ to produce hopeless melancholy or hardened 
4 profligacy.' But then, his Lordship ought to 
have known, that very few modern Calvinists 
ever advance it, and with the great body of 
them it is a sentiment utterly exploded. After 
all, too, it is a totally different thing from a 
4 moral incapacity.' 

§ 15. I am at a loss how to make any con- 
ciliatory concessions on such charges as the 
following. 1 If he be tolcl that he has only to 
4 cherish faith in his mind, and he will be eternally 
4 happy, he will be apt to persuade himself that 
4 he has this faith, while he is guilty of every 
4 vice within his means to which he feels any 
4 temptation. He will remember that the 
* preacher only told him to have faith, and that 
4 he did not enjoin him to abstain from lyings 
4 drunkenness, theft, and fornication — and who- 
4 ever has lived in the neighbourhood of certain 
4 preachers, will testify that it [this mode of 
4 reasoning] has taken place.'* I would fain 



* Refut. p. 165. 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned. 309 

discover a scintilla of candour in this statement, 
but am unable. If there Z>eany such preachers in 
our country, why class them with Calvinists; 
why not give them their proper denomination, 
Solifidians or Antinomians? The Calvinists, 
indeed, after the sacred scriptures, consider 
genuine, operative faith, — the faith that worketh 
by love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the 
world, and by which, it is recorded, " the just 
shall live," — of unspeakable moment. For by 
a believing consideration of revealed truths — 
both promises and precepts — doctrines and 
duties — every Christian grace is improved, 
and every obligation to obedience appears more 
important: a believing view of God and his 
glorious perfections, of Jesus Christ in his 
person, offices, and mediatorial work, of the 
Holy Spirit and his promised aids, in short, of 
the divine law and the blessed gospel, must be 
rationally supposed to have a decisive influence 
on a man's mind and conduct. But we utterly 
disown and condemn the practice — if there be 
any such — of telling an audience that they have 
6 only to cherish faith ' in order to be eternally 
happy. 

§ 16\ There are indeed individuals in most 
audiences, who are " servants of corruption," 
and such will be ever disposed to " pervert the 
scriptures," to " hold the jtruth in unrighteous- 



310 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv. 



ness," to " turn the grace of God (i. e. gracious 
truths) into lasciviousness," (i. e. lascivious prac- 
tices.) Such characters there were in the apos- 
tolic churches, and in every age. But I will 
venture to affirm, without fear of heing fairly 
contradicted, that the presumptuous doctrine 
of human ability, or the power of free-will, in 
connexion with the mode of preaching recom- 
mended and adopted in opposition to the 
importance of faith,is far less efficacious in form- 
ing the conscientious and consistent Christian. 
Viewing the evil consequences of each extreme, 
if one has " slain its thousands," the other has 
" slain its ten thousands." Facts are stubborn 
things, and they are the best evidence that the 
case affords. To these we appeal ; and let any 
true and impartial witness who lives * in the 
'neighbourhood of certain preachers' decide, 
under what ministry 6 lying, drunkenness, theft, 
f and fornication ' prevail most. If one presumes, 
through criminal ignorance or perverseness, that 
" faith only" will save him ; the other presumes, 
through ignorance no less criminal, that some 
fancied gocd works will counterbalance all his 
vices. We are told that 4 even a doubt of the 
* efficacy of virtue will lead to a disregard to its 
' laws,'* But the counterpart is at least equally 
true, that even a doubt of the efficacy of faith 



* Refut. p. 174. 



sect. ii. Imputations in a Sense Disowned, 311 

will lead to a disregard of its laws. " What 
God hath joined, let no man put asunder." 

§ 17. 6 Calvinistic ministers/ we are informed, 

* with all their zeal to support the doctrine of 

* salvation through faith alone, and all their 
' anxiety to depreciate the importance of moral 
' virtue, cannot avoid the inconsistency of allow- 
6 ing that " good works will in any sense he 
' rewarded.'' '* Salvation, we all know, is a 
relative term, implying some evil or clanger 
from which a person is saved. Now, is there 
any other way, his Lordship being judge, of 
being saved from condemnation, but " through 
faith alone?" If this be not a doctrine taught 
by the formularies of the Church of England, 
it is difficult to know what they teach, Again, 

* depreciation ' denotes a comparative idea. The 
same thing may be highly valued on one 
account, and yet ought to be depreciated on 
another. Gold may be highly valued as a 
medium of commerce, and in many other 
respects ; but gold formed into an idol, and 
set in competition with the true God, ought to 
be ' depreciated.' That glorious luminary the 
sun, is highly and justly valued, as the source 
of light and the attracting centre of our system ; 
but when a Persian, exalts it into competition 

* Refut. p. 182, 



312 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch.it. 



with its maker, and claims for it religious ado- 
ration, it ought to be ' depreciated.' Thus, 
also, good works and moral virtue, though truly 
valuable in their proper place, yet when they 
are produced in order to save us from con- 
demnation, or procure our justification before 
God, ought to be ' depreciated/ But there are 
other things from which we have need to be 
saved beside condemnation for a breach of law 
and covenant. For instance, we have need to 
be saved from a charge of being destitute of 
moral virtue, and good works, which are due to 
God from all his rational creatures ; and I know 
of no salvation or deliverance from this charge 
but by being actually virtuous, and by actual 
good works. Now what ' inconsistency ' is 
there between depreciating moral virtue and 
good works in one case, and highly esteeming 
them in another. Is the Sun of no value be- 
cause he is not a proper object of religious 
confidence ? 



sect. in. Imputations peculiar to Other Sects. 313 



Sect. III. 

Some things imputed to Cahinists which are peculiar 
to other Sects* 

§ 1. To profess a state of sinless obedience and unspotted purity in this 
life, is peculiar in one sense, to Antinomians. $ 2. In another, to 
Arminian Methodists. § 3—5, The Calvinistic view of Christian 
perfection, explained. 

§ 6. To vindicate dreadful crimes, abominations, and reproaches, pecu- 
liar to the refuse of civil society. 7. The representations of 
IRENES, Epiphanii s, &.c. probably overcharged. ^ 8. This 
probability increased by modern Facts. § 9. To profess private 
revelations, peculiar to Enthusiasts. 

§ 10. That a continual progress in obedience is not necessary on our 
part to secure salvation, peculiar to practical Antinomians. 

That Calvinists endanger the established chnrch, and § 11. That their 
doctrine is liable to abuse, examined. § 12, 13. That the greatest 
danger of the established church, is peculiar to itself. 

§ 1. TTnder this head of our Examination 
I shall consult brevity ; yet as it is my design 
in this work not merely to shew that the 
Bishop's numerous charges against the modern 
Calvinists are unfounded, but also to explain 
our views of Christian doctrines, I shall dwell a 
little longer on some articles than otherwise would 
be necessary. For instance, his Lordship calls the 
notions of 6 sinless obedience and unspptted 
' purity ' Calvinistic. Here, in order to an answer 
sufficiently fair, I might content myself with 
denying the imputation, except he had brought 
proofs of it. He might suppose that the notion 
is of public notoriety; and I might assert with. 



314 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch.iv, 

confidence that the contrary is a fact of public 
notoriety. If any persons, preachers or authors, 
express themselves in similar terms, they 
belong to other denominations. Antinomlans 
have said some crude things about the elect 
being sinless, as considered in Christ who is 
so, that Christ was made a sinner for us and 
that we are pure or without spot in him, &c. 
For my own part, I can give them credit, that 
their real design is far less exceptionable than 
their expressions, interpreted with rigour, would 
import. If it be urged that these may be termed 
Calvinists, because they hold many points in 
common with Calvin ; his Lordship himself may 
be so termed. For what denomination of Chris- 
tians is there that does not hold many points in 
common with Calvin? 

§ 2. The Arrmmans also in connexion with 
Mr. John Wesley, at least many of them, have 
said much about ' Christian perfection* and 
1 sinless perfection.' And some of them have 
contended that the latter is attainable in this 
life ; nay, that some characters have actually 
attained this exalted distinction. Indepen- 
dently of the notion being justifiable or unjus- 
tifiable, I appeal to any one who has an accurate 
and extensive acquaintance with the Calvinists, 
is there one to be found among them who makes 
this profession ? I know not any, Is it fair, is 



sect. in. Imputations peculiar to Other Sects. 3 1 5 

it accurate, to impute to one denomination that 
which is peculiar to another? But, as before 
hinted, I wish to explain, as well as to defend 
the sentiments of modern Calvinists ; and I shall 
therefore attempt to put my readers in possession 
of their sentiments on the subject. 

§ 3. Absolute perfection belongs to God 
only. Compared with him, every creature is 
imperfect. " The heavens are not clean in his 
sight, and he charge th his angels with folly? 
that is, comparatively speaking. And yet the 
apostle Paul speaks of Christians as perfect : St. 
John supposes u perfect love" may be in the 
disciples of Christ, " casting out fear :'' Noah 
and Job are said to be " perfect and it is the 
declaration of Bildad that " God will not cast 
away a perfect man." Were we, therefore, to 
renounce every idea of perfection, as applied to 
Christians, who live under the most perfect 
dispensation of religion, we should be chargeable 
with a most notorious contradiction of God's 
word. What we maintain is this : First, that 
every true Christian has the perfect righteous^ 
ness of Christ imputed to him. In this per- 
fection he is so interested, as to be perfect or 
complete in the point of acceptance with God, 
since without such perfection and personal 
interest in it, we think it not conceivable how 
an imperfect creature could be accepted or 



3 16 Modern Calvinism Defended. era. iv. 

justified. Secondly, that every true Christian has 
a perfection of sincerity and aim : for the very 
idea of sincerity, or a " single eye," excludes 
all imperfection of principle ; imperfect sin- 
cerity being a contradiction in terms — no less 
so, than impure purity, or a feigned unfeigncd- 
ness. Thirdly, that some Christians have a per- 
fection of exercised graces, compared with 
others of lower attainments. 

§ 4. Their knowledge of revealed truths, 
for example, is more clear and comprehensive : 
they have a more accurate acquaintance with 
the perfections and character of God, and Avith 
their own real state compared with him and his 
law : their love to God and to the Saviour, is 
more steady, constant, and operative ; they have 
that perfect love that casteth out fear : their 
faith is strong, giving glory to God, and rises 
to full assurance of the reality and importance 
of the things believed : their hope is more firm 
and steadfast, under the various trials of life : 
they delight themselves in the Lord more con- 
stantly : their confidence in God is less waver- 
ing: their affections are more set on things that 
are spiritual and heavenly : they are more 
zealously affected in a good cause : they more 
uninterruptedly cleave unto the Lord with full 
purpose; and follow him more fully. The 
kingdom of God is more powerfully set up in 



sect. in. Imputations peculiar to Oilier Seels. 31? 

their souls, consisting of righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost Compared 
with others, they may be said to rejoice ever- 
more, and to pray without ceasing. They are 
of a meek and quiet spirit, and are clothed with 
humility: they put on the whole armour of 
God, and stand in the evil day of temptation: 
they grow up more and more into the likeness 
of Christ, and inwardly but humbly triumph in 
expectation of the glory that is promised them. 
And, to crown all, they sink into their proper 
insignificancy and nothingness, that the Lord 
alone may be exalted, reckoning themselves 
unprofitable servants. 

§ 5. Though every true Christian therefore 
is equally perfect as interested in the perfection 
of Christ, and equally perfect as to the reality 
and sincerity of grace, considered as a principle 
in the soul; yet, there is a great difference as 
to exercised graces. There are, in this respect, 
babes, young men, and fathers in Christ. Their 
actual attainments admit of a great difference, 
which may be compared to the blade, the ear, 
and the full corn in the ear. But those who are 
most perfect, in this comparative sense, do not 
pretend to 6 sinless obedience and unspotted 
s purity.' Their best prayers and praises are 
defective ; often "when they would do good, the 
evil is present with them, and how to perfonn 



318 Modern Calvinism Defended. 4'bn iv, 

that which is good they find not." They 
sincerely intend the glory of God that they 
may enjoy him for ever: but the flesh lusteth 
Against the spirit and the spirit against the 
Sesh, and these two are contrary. And the 
more they know of themselves, the more ready 
they are to confess, " I have seen an end of all 
perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding 
broad." " O wretched man that I am, who 
shall deliver me?" " I have not already attained, 
nor am I already perfect," compared with a 
state of sinless perfection. There is still room 
for greater exertions, in keeping the body 
under, and bringing it into subjection, in 
taking up the cross, and following Christ 
While in this tabernacle of the body, they 
groan, being burdened, wishing to be cloathed 
with their house whicli is from heaven. Yet 
they rejoice in hope of the glory of God, yea in 
tribulations also, because the love of God is shed 
abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given 
unto them. This is the ' Christian perfection * 
maintained by Calvinists. 

§ 6. Through the convenient medium of 
ancient heretics we are represented as ' guilty 
< of dreadful crimes ' and ' doing many abomi- 

* nable and ungodly things,' and ' inveighing 
€ against those who, from the fear of God, are 

* cautious not to sin even in thought or word. 



sect. in. Imputations 'peculiar to Other Sects. 319 

* as idiots and fools.* ' I will not say, that 
Calvinists have never transgressed the bounds 
of perfect charity, that " hopeth all things, and 
endureth all things," when opposing error, or 
condemning sin. They are men of like passions 
with others, and therefore when slandered and 
traduced they must needs feel it: must feel it 
sometimes with resentment as well as pity, and 
occasionally an indignant word may escape 
them. It is not true, however, that they 
sanction or countenance any conduct or ex- 
pressions that appear inconsistent with charity 
any more than with truth. It is one of their 
principles to " overcome evil with good," and 
" by well doing to put to silence the ignorance 
of foolish men," as directed by apostolic autho- 
rity. But really one might be led to suppose, 
that the quotation from Iren^us regarding the 
Valentinians, represented by his Lordship as 
' resembling the tenets of Calvinism, 7 was pe- 
culiar to none but the refuse of society, — to 
the inmates of Newgate or the colonists of 
Australasia. It would be a curious and not an 
unprofitable investigation, to ascertain, what 
proportion of Calvinists and Anticalvinists are 
executed, or sent to the hulks, as " guilty of a 
great variety of dreadful crimes." 

§ 7, Low as we think human nature is sunk 



* Refut p. 514. 



320 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv. 

fcy the original apostacy, we may suspect that 
its degraded state is too strongly marked by 
Iren^us, Epiphanius, and others who have 
written against Heretics. There is too much 
reason to suspect that these writers were not so 
intent upon a fair estimate of truth and error in 
their opponents, as they were solicitous to sup- 
press and degrade them altogether, — and that 
the easiest way of doing this was by drawing a 
strong caricature of their opinions, and ex- 
hibiting them in the most forbidding light I 
am far from thinking that these fathers had no 
just ground of complaint ; but they did not act 
fairly, they kept no bounds, their pictures were 
too highly and extravagantly charged, and 
scarcely compatible with the real state of mans 
nature. We too well know to what excesses 
2eal without knowledge, or without charity, is 
in danger of being betrayed, 

§ 8. Now, if in this advanced period of the 
Christian church, the Bishop of Lincoln, sur- 
rounded with adequate means of information, 
himself a man of acknowledged learning, talents, 
and respectability, is capable of drawing such a 
caricature of modern Calvinists, as we find con- 
tained in his " Refutation," the just inference 
is, that little dependance is to be placed on the 
bare assertions of interested parties in whatever 
period they may chance to wrangle. 'And 



sect. in. Imputations peculiar to Other Sects. 32 1 

* doing many other abominable and ungodly 
' things, they [i. t\ the Valentinians resembling 

* the Calvinists] inveigh against us — as idiots 
''and fools.' Surely this portrait, on a cool 
review, cannot be sanctioned by his Lordship 
as an exact portraiture ! Why these are notions 
and this is conduct 6 peculiar' rather to infidel 
revilers, to the disciples of Paine or the licen- 
tious admirers of V oltaire ! O when will the 
ministers of Christ learn to " speak the truth in 
love," and shew themselves worthy of their 
holy and divine Leader ! 

§ 9. There are many other things in the 
" Refutation" ascribed to Calvinists, which are 
peculiar to other sects; such as a ' claim to 
6 private revelation, 5 — which is peculiar to enthu- 
siast s> whose distempered phantasies, like Jonah's 
gourd spring up in one night and perish in 
another, as their falsehood becomes manifest, 
to the confusion of their prophetic authors. If 
any reputed Calvinists fall into such deliriums, 
we disown them, as having deserted sound prin- 
ciples. Again, to represent ' instantaneous con- 

* version ' as one of the " favourite tenets of 
modern Calvinists," is to confound their senti- 
ments with those of another denomination of 
Christians. If this be a peculiarity of any class 
of Christians, it is to be found among those who 
agree with his Lordship in the chief points of 



322 MoDerj* Calvinism Defended. ch. iy* 



theological controversy ; and especially on the 
cardinal point of the sovereign power of free, 
will to produce instantaneous conversion in 
connexion with the promised influences of the 
spirit; and who in this respect consequently 
stand opposed to modern Calvinism, which attri- 
butes more to the sovereign power of Grace. 
I must remark, however, that many of these 
Christian brethren, controversy apart, unite 
with us occasionally in acts of religious worship, 
and in the exercise of kind affections. For 
men of this stamp, " who, from the fear of God, 
are cautious not to sin even in thought or word," 
we have an unfeigned respect : and God forbid* 
that we should on any occasion regard them 
' as idiots and fools.' While we disapprove of 
their creed in some respects, we can embrace 
them as fellow Christians in the arms of affec- 
tion. We consider ourselves bound to respect 
and love those who " fear God, eschew evil, 
and work righteousness," among all denomina- 
tions. " Behold the fear of the Lord, that 
is wisdom, and to depart from evil is under- 
standing." 

§ 10. As to the notion imputed to us, that 
' a continual progress in obedience' — is ' not 
s necessary on our part to secure salvation,' if it 
be peculiar to any sect, it is to be found among 
practical Antimmians with whom we have no 



sect. in. Imputations pecutiar to Other Sects. 323 

fellowship, — nor do they desire ours. But the 
most weighty charge, in the estimation of many 
who read the Bishop's Refutation, yet remains, 
V)iz. ' that the established church is in no small 
' danger, from the active hostility of those who 
1 profess Cahinistic doctrines" # Now for my 
own part I am at a loss to conceive how these 
c doctrines ' wear an unfavourable aspect on the 
' established church,' or in what manner those 
who ' profess' them are so peculiarly implicated 
in the alledged hostility. As Calvmists, of what- 
ever description, w r e are in the habit of express- 
ing our decided approbation of the doctrinal 
Articles of the Church of England, which we 
also consider as closely interwoven with its 
Liturgy. As Calvinistic dissenters, our chief 
objection lies against the plan of discipline, 
though many other dissenters (and I may add, a 
great number of persons who profess adherence 
to the established church,) are hostile to its 
doctrines. We strongly object indeed to the 
general principle of requiring subscription to 
articles of faith drawn up by any set of unin- 
spired men, however excellent those Articles 
may be ; persuaded that such requisitions have 
operated to the injury of real Christianity 
in every age, and that the arbitrary imposition 
of synodical decrees, canonical rites, and creeds, 



* Refut. p. 284, 



324 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. iv. 

whether orthodox or heterodox, have kindled 
flames in the Christian church, from the second 
century to the present, which all the wisdom, 
meekness and patience of the best of men, have 
not been able to extinguish. 

§ 11. Controversial equity requires, that I 
should notice, in this connexion, a conciliatory 
concession made by the Bishop , in favour of 
* many Calvinists.' It is the following : 4 I am 
< most ready to allow that many Calvinists have 
4 been pious and excellent men ; and I am fully 
c satisfied that there are in these days zealous 
1 Christians of that persuasion, who would be 
4 among the first to deplore any evil which might 
6 befal our constitution in church or state.' * 
This is the voice of candour; but it is over- 
powered by a very grievous exception. ' I 
( contend that Calvinism is a system peculiarly 
6 liable to abuse. The perversion of its tenets 
c has in former times been made, by wicked 
c and designing men, the instrument of great 
6 mischief.' It is but fair to ask, what good 
thing is there (virtue indeed excepted, as 
an ancient philosopher well observes,) which 
is not c liable to abuse?' Are not the divine 
laws themselves, and " the blessed gospel of 
the grace of God," thus £ liable ?' Nay, are not 



* Refut. p. 284. 



sect. in. Imputations peculiar to Other Sects* 525 

those tenets which are the very best, the most 
exposed to ' perversion, by wicked and design- 
4 ing men ? ' It is needless in this place to enter 
into the history of Calvinism, in order to esta- 
blish its exculpation in comparison with the 
sentiments of its opposers ; but I will venture to 
say, that the Canons of Councils, provincial and 
ecumenical, and Acts of Uniformity in religion, 
have been a thousand times more mischievous to 
6 the interests of real Christianity/ than Calvin- 
ism. I cannot indeed return the compliment, 
that these have been ' abused ' and ( perverted/ 
because it would be an implied acknowledge- 
ment, that in themselves they were good things; 
but I am constrained, by the fullest evidence, 
to regard them as an actual abuse of power. 

§ 1<2. Before I dismiss the idea of the esta- 
blished church being in ' danger ' from Calvin- 
ism, may I be allowed to submit my individual 
opinion with regard to a ' danger,' a substantial, 
not an imaginary danger, which seems to menace 
it from another quarter, and appears to me far 
more formidable. I allude to the modish practice 
of some of its own clergy to inveigh against 
Calvinism, as a frightful enemy. If I am not 
mistaken, the natural tendency of this is to excite 
the attention of the people to enquire what it is, 
which is " every where spoken against." They 
examine the Liturgy, the Articles, and perhaps 



326 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. iv, 

the Homilies ; and the consequence is, that they 
see or suppose they see, that they are all 
Calvinistic. The most enquiring among them be- 
come dissatisfied with their ministers, when they 
strongly suspect that the desk and the pulpit 
are at variance. They then discover, at least, 
they think they discover, that the modern 
doctrine which they hear preached in the church, 
is very different from that which was taught by 
the reformers, and by those excellent men who 
drew up her formularies. By degrees, they 
wish to learn what the 6 Calvinists' have to 
alledge in their own behalf, — they are astonished 
to perceive the prevailing similarity between their 
scheme of doctrine and that which they find 
in the Liturgy and the Thirty-nine Articles — and 
infer that their own teachers have apostatized 
from the faith of their pious ancestors, 

§ 13. In order to cure this growing process, 
it would be at least prudent, instead of waging 
a war of extermination against the Calvinists, 
to preach the established doctrines more plainly 
and faithfully, appealing to the judgment and 
the consciences of the people, as well as to the 
scriptures. This method, when accompanied 
with holy tempers, upright conduct, and watch- 
ful prudence, would do more towards preserving 
the church from danger, than ten thousand 
weekly moral essays intermixed with bitter 



sect. in. Imputations peculiar to Other Sects, 827 

invectives against Calvinistic and Methodistlc 
' fanaticism. 9 In the one case, they might reason* 
ably hope to attach the people to their own 
church upon principle ; in the other they are 
labouring to the utmost of their ability to drive 
them away. The one method addresses itself 
to the understanding, to the cool judgment, to 
the best feelings of an audience; the other to 
the prejudices, the bigotry, and the angry 
passions of unprincipled or ignorant men. — I 
do not presume to dictate in this matter, but 
have simply taken occasion to state my opinion 
frankly and impartially. 



Chap. V. 



QUOTATIONS FROM THE CHRISTIAN FATHERS, PRODUCED 
BY THE BISHOP, EXAMINED. 

Sect. I. 

Quotatiotis from the Fathers which have no bearing 
on the points in question, 

§ 1. The subject stated. How we ought to estimate the sentiments of 
the Fathers. § 2. Quotations which relate to what belongs to men 
and to God, from Cyril. § 3 Concerning what is not excusable^ 
from Hilary. § 4. The consequence of not believing, from 
Ambrose. $ 5. Concerning divine assistance, from Jerome and 
Augustine. § 6. The act of sin voluntary, from Augustine. 
§ 7. Christians the subjects of two births, from Augustine. ^=8. 
The danger of falling into opposite extremes, from Augustine. 
§ 9 — 12. Errors condemned, from Augustine and CRRYsosTorf. 
§ 13. Certainty of divine promises to those who are willing, from 
Chrysostom. § 14. Concerning divine permission, from Chry- 
sostom. § 15. Concluding remarks. 

§ 1. "Were I to say, that more than one 
half of the pile of quotations from the Fathers, 
consisting of about two hundred and forty pages, 
produced by the Bishop of Lincoln against Cal- 
vinism, has no bearing on the point in question, I 
should be far from transgressing the boundary of 
truth. Of the other moiety a considerable part 
militates against the Bishop's avowed principles ; 
a part consists of quotations which are doubtful, 
only in expressions against the Calvinists, but 



330 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. t. 

not in meaning; and the remainder appears to 
be unscriptural both in language and in senti- 
ment. Before we proceed to particulars, it may 
be proper to premise, that these uninspired 
Fathers lived in the infancy of the Christian 
church — that they have no just claim to supe- 
riority over the moderns, who, in many respects, 
are their superiors, as they are their seniors in 
point of advantages — that the controversies 
agitated in their days were very different from 
those under consideration— that we possess the 
same scriptures that they possessed — that the 
rules of just criticism are now better understood, 
than in their days — that a more accurate logic 
may be naturally expected in the present age, 
than that to which they were accustomed — and 
that, notwithstanding their zeal, piety, and elo- 
quence, in many instances, they are very indif- 
ferent guides in controversial theology. The 
ultimate appeal must be to the genuine sense of 
the inspired volume, 

§ g. Some of the quotations relate to what 
belongs to men and to God. Thus Cyril of 
Jerusalem says, 4 " It belongs to me to speak, to 
* you to give attention, to God to make perfect."* 
Again, " ' It belongs to God to give grace, but to 
' you to receive and preserve it* Do not there- 



* Refut. p. 347. 



sect. i. Quotations which have no Bearing. 331 

6 fore despise the grace, because it is given 

* freely, but having received it, preserve it with 

* reverence.'"* Whole pages to this effect are 
quoted ; but what have they to do with the 
points in debate? Whole volumes of similar 
quotations might be extracted from the Fathers, 
but what tendency could they have to settle 
controversies about Calvinism? 

§ 3. Other quotations refer to what is not 
excusable. Thus Hilary remarks, ' " The ex- 
c cuse of a certain natural necessity in crimes is 
' not admitted. For [on that supposition] the 

* serpent might have been innocent, who him- 
' self stops his ears that they may be deaf.'"f 
Again, 6 " There is not any necessity of sin in 
' the nature of men, but the practice of sin 
' arises from the desire of the will, and the 

* pleasure of vice." '$ Here the author evidently 
refers to a fatal necessity, as maintained by the 
Valentinians, Basilidians, Marcionites, and other 
heretics of those times ; but what relevancy is 
there in such quotations against modern Cal- 
vinists? We cordially concur with Hilary in 
condemning such dogmas. 

§ 4. Some quotations are produced to shew the 
consequence of not believing. Thus Ambrose : 



* Refut. p. 349. + lb. p. 359. + lb. p. 360* 



33 l 2 Modern Calvinism Defeased, en. 



'"If any one does not believe In Christ, he 
' defrauds himself of the general .benefit, just 
' as if one should exclude the rays of the sun 

* by shutting his windows."* Again, 6 " He saw 

* that those who are diseased cannot be saved 
' without a remedy, and therefore he afforded a 
6 medicine to the sick. Therefore he brought 

* the assistance of health to all; so that whoso- 
i ever shall perish 7 may ascribe the cause of his 

* death to himself, who was unwilling to be cured 

* when be had a remedy, by which he might 
1 have escaped." 'f Of what possible use is it 
to multiply quotations on this head, while there 
is no difference of opinion ? 

§ 5. Many quotations relate to divine assist- 
ance. Thus Jerome: '"We so preserve free™ 

* will to man, that we do not deny the assistance 
9 of God in each thing. "'J And thus Augustine : 
* " If he (Pelagius) will agree that the will itself, 

* and the action, are assisted by God, and so 
1 assisted that we cannot will or do any thing 

* well without that assistance, no controversy 

* will be left between us, as far as I can judge, 

* concerning the assistance of the grace of God."'|j 
And so say the Calvinists. As these lines con- 
tain the whole of the quotation, what could be 
his Lordship's design in producing it? On what 

* Refut. p. 380. + lb. p. 378. % lb. p. 410. || lb. p. U%* 



sect. I. Quotations which have no Bearing. 333 

information could he rest, if he supposed 
such passages as these are adverse to modern 
Calvinism ? 

§ 6. Other quotations are produced to prove 
that the act of sin is voluntary. To this effect 
we have a long quotation from Augustine : c u If 
' that defect, which is called sin, like a fever y 
' seized a person contrary to his will, the punish- 

* ment which follows the sinner, and which is 
c called damnation, would appear to be unjust 
' But now, sin is so far a voluntary evil, that it 
£ is by no means sin, unless it be voluntary : and 

* and this, indeed, is so clear, that not any of 
c the learned, and no considerable number of 
' the unlearned, dissent from it. Wherefore it 
' must either be denied, that sin is committed ; 
& or it must be confessed, that sin is committed 
& with the will— Lastly, if we do not act wrongly 
' with the will, no one is to be reproved at all, 

* or admonished ; and if you take away these 
£ things, the Christian law, and the whole disci- 
1 pline of religion, must necessarily be destroyed. 

* Therefore sin is committed by the will" ' # Again, 
£ " A distinction is to be made between the law 
c and grace. The law commands, grace assists. 
£ Neither would the law command, unless there 
£ were will; nor would grace assist, if the will 



* Refut. p. 41$. 



334 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. r. 



1 were sufficient.'''* I have inserted these pas- 
sages because thev give a «;ood illustration of the 
Calvinistic sentiment upon the point in question ; 
■ — what could be the learned Bishop's design in 
producing them, it is distressing to conjecture. 

§ 7. We have a prolix quotation from Augus- 
tine to prove, that real Christians are the 
subjects of two births. ' a There are two births, 

* one is of the earth, the other of heaven ; one 
$ is of the flesh, the other of the spirit ; one is 

4 of mortality, the other of eternity; one is of 

* male and female, the other of God and the 

* church. But each of these two takes place 
1 only once ; neither the one nor the other can 

* be repeated. Nicodemus rightly understood 
f the birth of the flesh. What did Nicodemus 

* understand? Can a man enter a second time 

* into his mother's womb, and be born ? Whoever 
' shall say to you, that you may be born a second 

* time spiritually r , answer him what Nicodemus 

* said, Can a man enter a second time into his 

* mother's womb, and be born? I am already 
1 born of Adam ; Adam cannot generate me a 

* second time. I am already born of Christ ; 
1 Christ cannot generate me a second time. 

5 As the natural birth cannot be repeated ; 
*so neither can baptism"' -\ I have added 



* Refut. p. 417. + lb. p. 421. 



sect. I. Quotatio?is which hate no Bearing. 335 

this last clause, to complete the quotation, 
for the purpose of shewing in what manner 
the term " baptism" is used. The whole of 
the passage evidently shews, that the name of 
the sign is made to stand for the thing signified. 
Here the Calvinistic sentiment is clearly ex- 
plained. The true Christian is born of heaven — > 
born of the spirit — born of God : and this birth 
" cannot be repeated." Baptism, literally con- 
sidered, not only may, but often is repeated ; as 
first privately, then publicly — one time by affu- 
sion, another time by immersion, &c. ; but the 
spiritual baptism^the thing signified, "cannot be 
repeated." 

^ 8. Another passage from Augustine de- 
serves to be inserted here, not only as an 
instance of those quotations which have no 
bearing on the point in question, but as an 
edifying exemplification of Calvinistic senti- 
ments on the danger of falling into opposite 
extremes. 6 u The mind of man wavering and 
1 fluctuating between the confession of infirmity 

* and the boldness of presumption, is generally 
4 beaten about this way and that, and is so 
4 impelled, that he is in danger of Jailing down a 
4 precipice on either side. For if he should en- 
6 tirely give himself up to his own infirmity, 

* and incline to this opinion, so as to say, Because 
g the mercy of God is in the end so ready to all 



336 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v« 

1 sinners, in whatever sins they may persevere, 

* provided they believe that God delivers, that 

* God pardons, that no one of the wicked who 
6 have faith (fidelium iniquorum) perishes ; that 
' is, no one of those perishes, who say to them- 
$ selves, Whatever I may do, with whatever 
4 crimes and wickedness I may be defiled, how 
' much soever I may sin, God delivers me by 
' his mercy, because I havf believed in him : 
' He, therefore, who says that no person of this 
' kind perishes, from a wrong opinion, inclines 
4 to the impunity of sinners ; and that just God 
4 to whom mercy and judgment are sung [Ps. ci. 

* 1.], not mercy only, but judgment also, finds 
4 the person wrongly presuming upon himself, 
' and abusing the mercy to his own destruction, 
6 and must necessarily condemn him. Such a 

* thought then throws a man down a precipice, 

* through fear of which, if any one should raise 

* himself to a certain boldness of presumption, 
4 and shall presume on his own strength and 
6 righteousness, and shall propose in his own 
& mind to fulfil righteousness, and so to do all 
6 things which are commanded in the law, that 

* he offends in nothing, and to have his life in 
' his own power, so that he no where fails, no 

* where stumbles, is no where in darkness, and 
' attributes this to himself and to the power of 

* his will ; even if he should happen to fulfil all 

* things which seem just in the sight of men, 



sect* i. Quotations which have no Bearing* 337 

* so that nothing is found in his life, which can 
' be blamed by men, God condemns this very 
€ presumption, and boast of pride. What then 
' happens if a man should justify himself, 
' and presume upon his own righteousness ? He 
' falls. If* considering and thinking of his own 
' weakness, and presuming on the mercy of God > 
i he shall neglect to purge his life of his sins, 

* and shall plunge into every gulph of wicked* 

* ness ; he too falls. — Again, I say this short 
' thing, which you may all keep fixed upon your 
1 minds, Presume not on your own righteousness 
' to reign ; presume not on the mercy of God to 
' sin' * Can any cautions be more strictly con- 
sistent with Calvinism? Were it not that the 
language is not of modern construction, one 
might suppose it an exhortation from a modern 
Calvinist to his audience. 

§ 9- Many quotations are introduced with a 
view, apparently, to condemn errors, — which 
errors, however, are equally condemned by 
modern Calvinists. A few of these must suffice. 
Augusine: ' "Abraham offered his son Isaac to 

* God, to be sacrificed — a great work, but of 

* faith. I praise the edifice of the work, but I 
' see the foundation of faith. I praise the fruit 
4 of good works, but I acknowledge the root 



* Rcfut. p. 425. 

z 



338 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. r. 



c in faith. But if Abraham did this without a 
€ right faith, that work, of whatever kind it 
( might be, would not profit him. Again, if he 

* had faith, so that when "God should command 
' him to offer his son to be sacrificed, he should 
£ say with himself, I do not do it, and yet I believe 

* that God delivers me, even though I despise his • 

* commands ; faith without works would be dead, 
c and would remain, as it were, a barren and 
6 dry root, without fruit'' ' * What Calvinist does 
not heartily concur in this condemnation ? 

§ 10. Chrysostom: 6 "Not every one that 
6 saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 

* kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the 
i will of my Father which is in heaven." In 
6 this passage Christ seems to me to reprove the 
c Jews, who placed every thing in their dog-mas, 
c without any regard to their lives. Therefore 
6 St. Paul accuses them, saying, ' £ Behold thou 
' art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and 
f makes t thy boast of God, and knowest his 
s will but there shall be no advantage to you 
e from thence, unless there be a correspondence 
' in your life and works. But he did not stop 

* here, but said, much more ; " For many will 
: say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not 
' prophesied in thy name?" For he says, not 



* Refut, p, 429. 



sect. i. Quotations which have no Bearing. 339 

* only he who has faith, but leads a careless life, is 

< excluded from heaven, but although with his 

* faith a person shall have performed maeriy 

< miracles, and have done nothing good, he also 
4 is equally excluded from those sacred gates." ' # 
Excellent remarks. Again, the same Father^ 
Chrysostom, answers erroneous cavillers, (whom 
the Bishop of Lincoln it appears, deems like the 
Calvinists,) in the following manner : 1 " They 
4 bring other objections, asking, And why did 

* God make him such? God did not make him 
' such ; far from it ; for then he would not have 
4 punished him. For if we do not blame our 

* servants for those things of which we are our- 
4 selves the cause, much less would the God of 
4 the universe. But the objector says, Whence 

■ came he such ? From himself, and from his 

* own negligence. What, from himself? Ask 

* thyself: for if the bad be not bad from them- 
4 selves, do not punish your servant, or reprove 
4 your wife for her offences, or beat your son, 

* or accuse your friend, or hate your enemy who 
e injures you. For all these deserve pity, not 
4 punishment, if they do not offend from them - 

* selves."! There is much more to the same 
purpose in this quotation, — and all truly 
Calvinistic. 

§11. Of the same evangelical and Calvinistic 
*Refut.p.48i. f lb. p. 482, 



\ 



540 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. v. 



tendency is the following quotation from Augus- 
tine, against the error of those who separated 
faith and works. ' " When the apostle says, 

* that he concludes that man is justified by faith 
' without the works of the law, he does not 
' mean that the works of righteousness mav be 
( disregarded, after faith is perceived and pro- 
' fcssed ; but that every one may know that he 

* may be justified by faith, although the works 

* of the law shall not have preceded. For they 
5 follow the person justified, and do not precede 
f him who is to be justified. — Because, therefore, 

* this opinion had then arisen, the other aposto- 
€ lical Epistles of Peter, John, James, and Jude, 
( principally direct their zeal against it, to prove 
' with great earnestness, that faith without 
i works is of no avail ; as even Paul himself 
' has not defined it faith of any sort, by which 
4 men believe in God, but that wholesome and 

* plainly evangelical faith whose w r orks proceed 
e from love : and faith, he says, which worketh 
< by love," '* In this manner Augustine re- 
proved the false teachers of his day ; — a manner 
precisely similar to that which is adopted, 
when occasion demands it, by the modern 
Calvinists. 

| 12. Chrysostom refutes the error of 
* Refut. p. 439, 



sect. i. Quotations which have no Bearing, 341 

those who hold that men are good by force, in 
opposition to choice. * " Since he has made us 
• masters of the choice of bad and good actions, 
' and wishes us to be voluntarily good ; therefore 
' if we be not willing, he does not force, he does 
' not compel ; for to be good by force is not to 
< be good at all."' # Nothing can be more 
decidedly Calvinistic. Through what medium 
then, it is natural to ask, could his Lordship 
look at the doctrine of modern Calvinism, when 
he imagined that this quotation had any 
bearing against them? With equal astonish- 
ment they will find their learned Refuter 
adducing from the same fathers, the following 
passage containing a censure on some professing 
Christians who had imbibed the Heathen absur- 
dities about fate, " God says, If ye be willing, 
' ye shall eat the good of the land ; but Fate 
' says, although we he willing, unless it shall be 
6 permitted us, this will is of no use, God says, 
6 If ye will not obey my words, a sword shall 
' devour you; Fate says, although we be not 
6 willing, if it shall be granted us, we are cer- 
' tainly saved. Does not Fate say this ? What 
f then can be clearer than this opposition ? What 
6 can be more evident than this war, which the 
' diabolical teachers of wickedness have thus 
4 shamelessly declared against the divine oracles ? 



* Refut. p. 456. 



342 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. +i 



f. But, as I have said, that demons and men like 

4 demons (I mean the Greeks) should believe 

* these things, is no wonder : but that you, who 
€ were thus enjoying the divine and saving 

5 instruction, should despise these things, and 

* adopt those absurdities, which destroy the soul, 

* this is of all things the most grievous." ' * 
What reader can his Lordship expect to apply 
this language in opposition to modern Calvinists, 
except one here and there profoundly ignorant 
of their principles? Does even the Bishop 
really wish for his readers to regard them as 
" the diabolical teachers of wickedness," resem- 
bling those who are here opposed, by Chry- 
sostom? Where is knowledge, where is candour, 
where is common equity ? I believe we have not a 
member nor a catechumen in our societies, who 
would not cordially approve of Chrysostom's 
reasoning, 

§ 13. An unsuspecting reader of the "Re- 
futation" would be induced to regard the follow- 
ing quotation, also, from the writings of the same 
Father as adverse to our principles, from the 
mere circumstance that it is inserted there for 
that purpose; while at the same time it is 
perfectly consonant with our professed opinions. 
It relates to the certainty of divine promises to 
those who are willing. 6 " But some one may 

* Refut. p. 458. 



sect. I. Quotations zchich have no Bearing, 343 

' say, that if acting rightly depends upon the 
' assistance of God, and it is not in my power 
' to act rightly, I ought not to be blamed : for 
4 when I shall have done every thing in my 

* power, and shall have willed, and chosen, and 
1 entered upon the business, but he upon whom 
4 the success depended shall not have assisted 
4 me, or stretched out his hand, I am freecL'from 

* all blame. But this is not the real case. For 
4 it is impossible if we xcill, and choose, and 
1 resolve, that God should desert us. For if he 
' encourages, and exhorts those who are unwil- 
4 ling, to be willing, much more does he not 
4 desert those who choose of their own accord, 
4 " For look, says he, at the generations of old ? 

* and see, did ever any trust in the Lord, and 
1 was confounded? or did any abide in his fear, 

* and was forsaken ?" And again, Paul says, 

* " Hope maketh not ashamed?" that is, hope in 
4 God : for it is impossible for any one to fail, 
4 who hopes in God with all his mind, and exerts 
4 himself to the uttermost —And again, we are. 
4 told, 44 He that endureth to the end shall be 
4 saved/' These are all rules, and laws, and 
6 decrees ; and this ought to be fixed in your 
4 mind, that it is impossible that any one who 
4 is diligent, and takes care for his own salva- 

* tion, and makes all the exertion in his power, 
4 should ever be deserted of God."'* Many 

* Refut. p. 477. 



3U4 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



CH. V% 



pages to the same purpose might be here inserted 
from Chrysostom, (were I not desirous of avoid- 
ing needless prolixity,) as fully consentaneous to 
our views on this subject : and really when we 
find the Bishop swelling his pages with them 
against us, it is difficult to assign any probable 
motive which would not impeach either his 
integrity or his discrimination. 

§ 14. There are some quotations, still from 
Chrysostom, produced against the Calvinists, 
relating to the divine permission, which, 
notwithstanding, we must take leave to regard 
as pious and conclusive. ' " This is the peculiar 

* language of scripture — ( God gave them over 
' to a reprobate mind,' and * God hath divided 
'unto all nations;' that is, he has permitted, 
' allowed. For he does not here introduce him 
4 acting, but he shews that these things happen 
4 by the wickedness of others. For when we 

* are deserted by God, w r e are delivered up to 
' the devil ; but when given up to the devil, we 
4 surfer ten thousand evils. Therefore, that he 

* may alarm the hearer, he says, he hardened, 

* he gave up. For that he not only does not 
' give us up, but does not desert us except from 
i the want of our own will, learn from these 

* expressions ; — * Do not your sins separate me 

* and you?' And again — 6 They that forsake 
' thee shall perish/ Hosea says, ' Thou hast 



sect. i. Quotations which have no Bearing. 345 

1 forgotten the law of thy God, and I will forget 
* thee:' and he himself in the gospel says — 
' How often would I have gathered thy children 
c together, and ye would not ! ' And again 
i Isaiah — 6 I came, and there was no man ; 
4 when I called, there was none to answer/ 
1 These things he says, to shew that w r e are 
6 ourselves the origin of our being deserted, and 
' the cause of our own destruction." ,# 

§ 15. Were it not that I consider the pre- 
ceding quotations as orthodox, and calculated 
to instruct and edify the pious reader, an apo- 
logy would be necessary for detaining him so 
long on subjects which have no bearing on the 
points in controversy. I have given the quo- 
tations in the Bishop's own translation of them, 
to preclude all suspicion of unfair design. There 
is no doubt his Lordship might have conveyed 
their meaning in language far more perspicuous 
and elegant, had he thought proper to deviate 
from so literal a rendering: but, where contro- 
versy is concerned, he was perfectly right in 
preferring faithfulness to elegance, if the union 
of both was really incompatible. 

* Refut. p. 496. Chrysost. opera, vol. viii. p. 407. 



346 



Modern Calvixism Defended. 



ch. v. 



Sect. II. 



Quotations produced by the Bishop which militate against 
his own avowed principles. 

% !. Quotations concerning the source of Christian Graces, from Igna- 
tius and Clement of Rome. § 2. On the divine source of our 
virtue, from Origen and Cyril of Jerusalem. ^ 3. The same, 
from Gregory of Nazianzum. § 4. That nobody can begin any 
thing that is good without the Lord, from Ambrose. § 5. That 
man can do no good work without God, from Jerome. § 6, 7. 
That God is the efficient cause of works and graces, from Augus- 
tine. 

*l 8. On Baptism, from Justin Martyr. § 9. On Regeneration, from 

I REN .BUS. 

§ 10, 11. On Predestination to Life, from Clement of Alexandria, 
^ 12. On the same, from Jerome. § 13. Remarks on a passage 
in Jerome about God willing us to Kill. 

§44. On Perseverance, from Ambrose ; and \ 15. From Augustine. 

«j 16, 17. On Co-operation, from Augustine; and § 18. From Curt- 
sostom. § 19. On human weakness, from Chrysostom, 



which relate to the source of Christian grace*, 
including faith. The reader will recollect what 
are the Bishop's avowed sentiments concerning 
faith, as produced in a former part of this 
volume.* The following quotation is from 
Ignatius, a contemporary of the apostles ; 

* " Of all which, nothing is hidden from you, 
e if you have faith perfectly towards Jesue 

* Christ, and charity, which are the beginning 



§ U I 



shall begin with those quotations 



* Chap. ii. Sect, ill 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop, 347 

* and end of life. Faith is the beginning, charity 
6 the end. These two formed into one, are of 
' God* But all other things which relate to a 
1 holy life are consequences of these things. — 
' The tree is made manifest by its fruit : so 
c those who profess themselves Christians shall 

* be discerned by their actions." 'j~ Thus also 
Clement of Rome, a contemporary of the 
apostles' : ' " For what was our father Abraham 
6 blessed? Was it not because through faith 
' he wrought righteousness and truth ? Isaac, 
( knowing with confidence what was to come, 
4 cheerfully submitted to be a sacrifice. Jacob, 
£ with humility, departed out of his own 
£ country, flying from his brother, and went to 
' Laban, and served him, and the sceptre of the 
' twelve tribes of Israel was given to him. — 
i They were therefore all glorified and magnified^ 
1 not for their own sake, or for their works, the 
4 righteousness which they had wrought, but 
6 through his will. % — What then shall we do, 
' brethren? Shall we cease from good works, 
' and lay aside charity ? God forbid that this 
e should take place in us; but let us hasten 
i with cheerfulness and alacrity to perform 
6 every good work." ' || Here, these apostolic 

+ Refut. p. 287. Coteler. Vol. ii. p,15. 

{ OV Jl' CiVTCOV CtXhct $J« TOV QstyfLOtTOS UVTQV+ 

j] Refut. p. 289. 



348 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

Fathers expressly ascribe Christian graces, espe- 
cially faith and charity, to God and his will as 
their source exclusively. 

§ 2. On the divine source of our virtue 
Origen observes : * " The virtue of a rational 
4 creature is mixed, arising from his own free- 

* will, and the Divine Power conspiring with 
tf him who chooses that which is good. But 
tf there is need of our own free-will, and of 
i divine co-operation, which does not depend upon 

* our will, not only to become good and virtuous, 
' but also after we become so, that we may 
' persevere in virtue ; since even a person who 
6 is made perfect will fall away, if he be elated 
' with his virtue, and ascribe the whole to him- 
' self, not referring the due glory to Him who 
' contributes by far the greater share, both in 

* the acquisition of virtue, and in the perseve- 
4 ranee in it." ' * That no virtue can be exer- 
cised without our free-will, is confessed on both 
sides ; but here a kind of divine operation is 
asserted, " which does not depend upon our 
will." Thus also Cyril of Jerusalem: 6 " That 
6 the soul of every one of you may be found 
s not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.' 

* I do not say before you receive grace (for how 

* could that be, you w r ho are called for the 



* Refut. p. 339. 



sect. ii. Quotations militating agai?ist the Bishop* 349 

' remission of sins) but that after grace is given, 

* your conscience, being found without condem- 

* nation, may concur with grace" ' * Here the 
precedence of the concurrence, as the immediate 
source of our holiness, is evidently ascribed to 
divine grace. Nor is there any thing in the 
connexion tending to shew, that Cyril meant 
by the term " grace " objective favours ex- 
clusively. 

§ 3. Gregory of Nazianzum : c " When 
i you hear, ' It is not of him that willeth, nor 

* of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth 

* mercy, 5 I advise you to suppose the same 

* thing. For because there are some so proud 

* of their virtue, as to attribute every thing to 
' themselves, and nothing to Him who made them 

* and gave them wisdom, and is the author of 

* good, this expression teaches them that a 
' right will stands in need of assistance from 

* God: or rather, the very desire of what is right 

* is something divine, and the gift of the mercy 
' of God. For we have need both of power 

* over ourselves, and of salvation from God. 
4 Therefore, says he, It is not of him that 

* willeth, that is, it is not of him only that 
i willeth, nor of him only that runneth, bat of 
( God that sheweth mercy. Since the will itself 



•* Refut. p. 350. 



350 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. y. 

' is from God, he with reason attributes every 

* thing to God.-— I know, says he, that the race 
4 is not to the swift, nor the battle to the 
c strong ; nor is the victory to those who fight, 

* nor the harbour to those who sail well : but 
' it is of God both to work the victory, and to 

* preserve the vessel into port."'* In this 
passage, Gregory expressly ascribes to God, aS 
its proper source, H the very desire of what is 
right and as " the will itself is from God," so 
" every thing" that is good is attributed to him 
" with reason." 

§ 4. Ambrose, one of the most judicious 
and self-consistent of the Fathers, observes, 
' " God says to Moses, I will have mercy on 

* whom I will have mercy, and I will have com- 
1 passion on whom I will have compassion. So 

* then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him 

* that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy / 
1 Perhaps you may say, we ought then neither 
1 to will, nor to run : but God is wont to desert 

* those who are negligent ; therefore this is not 
' his meaning. But let us consider what he 
i does mean: Perseverance is not of the man 

* who willeth, or of him who runneth ; for it is 
4 not in the power of man : but it is of God, who 

* pitieth, that you may be able to complete 



* Refuf. p. $71. 



sect. ti. Quotations militating against the Bishop, 351 

* what you have begun. — You see, because the 
1 power of God every where co-operates with 
' the endeavours of man, that nobody can build 

* a house without the Lord, nobody can keep a 

* city without the Lord, nobody can begin any 
€ thing without the Lord.' 1 ,# Here Ambrose 
not only denies to man the " power " of perse- 
vering, but also the power of beginning " any 
thing (good) without the Lord." 

§ 5. Jerome also is very explicit on this 
point of gracious causality from God. ' " Man 

* from the beginning of his condition, has God 
' as an assistant ; and since it was of his grace 

* that he was created, and it is of his mercy that 

* he subsists and lives, he can do no good work 
' without him, who has so granted free-will, that 
' he did not refuse his grace in any single 
' work." 't Again, ' " When, says he, you shall 
4 return to the Lord, he shall heal all your con- 
' tritions and backslidings, by which you had 

* departed from the Lord. For though, through 
' your own will you return to the Lord, yet 

* unless he shall draw you, and strengthen your 
4 desire by his support, you will not be able to be 
4 saved! 9 ' J Moreover ; ' " For by grace ye 
1 are Saved, through faith ; and that not of your- 



* Refut. p. 380, 381. Ambr. opera, vol. i. p. 1098. 1309. 
£ Refut. p. 383. + lb. p. 388, 



352 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



' selves : it is the gift of God. Therefore, he says, 

* he was about to shew the exceeding riches of 
' his grace in the ages to come, in his kindness, 

* because ye are saved by grace through faith, 
f not through works. And this very faith is not of 
1 yourselves, but of him zvho called you. But this 
1 is said, lest, perhaps, this thought should 

* secretly arise in you ; If we be not saved 
' through our works, certainly we are saved 
4 through faith, and in another way our salva- 
1 tion is owing to ourselves. Therefore he added 
1 and said, That faith itself is not of our will, but 
1 of the gift of God. Xot that free-will is taken 

* away from man." V* 

§ 6\ As to Augustine, who was so much 
engaged in opposing the Pelagian heresy, it is 
no wonder that he should refer all our good 
works, and all our graces, to God as their 
efficient source, though there were other here- 
sies, still subsisting in his day, against which it 
was necessary to be guarded. * " If, therefore, 
1 there be no grace of God, how does he save 
i the world? And if there be not free-will, how 
' does he judge the world? Wherefore, under- 
i stand my book or epistle according to this 
' faith, that ye neither deny the grace of God, 

* nor so defend free-will as to separate it from 



* Pctfut. p. 406. 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop. 353 

( the grace of God ; as if you could by any means 
' think or do any thing according to God without 
' it, which is altogether impossible. For on this 
? account, the Lord, when he spake concerning 
' the fruits of righteousness, said to his disciples, 
4 Without me ye can do nothing*"'* Again, 
1 "How are they said to deny free-will, who 
c confess that every man who believes in God 
' with his heart, believes only with his own 
' free-will ; whereas they rather oppose free- 
6 will, who oppose the grace of God, by which 

< it is in reality free to choose and do what is 
' good?" ' f Moreover : £ " He foreknew that 
4 their will would be bad ; he foreknew it indeed, 
' and because his prescience is infallible, the bad 

* will is not on that account his, but theirs. 
6 Why then did he create them who he knew 

would be such ? Because, as lie foreknew 
' what evil they would do, so also he foresaw 

* what good he would himself produce out of their 

< bad actions. For he so formed them, that he 

* left them the means of doing something ; by 
1 which whatever they should choose, even 

* blameably, they would find him acting lauda- 
' bly, concerning himself. For they have the 

* bad will from themselves ; but from him a 

* good nature and a just punishment," ' J As it 
would be directly opposite to the design Qf 



* Refut. 418. f lb. p. 41& % Xk g* 4I£, 

Q a. 



354 



Modern Calvinism Depended. 



ch. v< 



Augustine to suppose him to intend by " a 
good nature," a nature which was once good, 
though now corrupted, or natural powers which 
are in themselves good; he must be concluded 
to mean, that " a good nature " existing in 
some, is from God as its immediate source, 
while the " bad will " in others is " from 
themselves." 

§ 7. The following observations of Augus- 
tixe are also truly excellent, in proof of the 
same point, — that God is the immediate source 
of our graces, from whence flow good works. 
6 i: Let not any one say, Therefore God chose 
; works hi him whom he loved, although they 
* did not yet exist, because he foreknew that 
' they would be : but if he chose works] how 
4 does the apostle say, that the election xcas not 
- made of zcorks ? Wherefore it is to be under- 
i stood, that good works are done through love, 
' but that love is in us through the gift of the 
' Holy Ghost, as the same apostle says, 4 The 
1 love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, 
f by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us/ 
i Therefore no one ought to glory in his works 
6 as if they were his own, :chich he has by the 
' o °f God, since love itself works good in 
'kern;''* . As far as the testimony of this 



* Refut. p, 424. 



sr.cT. ii. Quotations militating agaihst the Bishop, 355 

Christian Father goes, what can be more de- 
cisive of the point in question? — and be it 
remembered that I do not quote all the pas- 
sages that might be produced, but merely a 
few specimens, 

§ 8. There are some passages in the Fathers., 
contained even in the very quotations which 
the Bishop has himself selected, that militate 
against his own avowed notions of baptism. 
Thus, for example, Justin Martyr : c " What 
4 advantage is there in that baptism which makes 
< clean flesh and body only ? Wash your souls 
' from wrath, and from covetousness, from envy, 
' from hatred, and behold the body is pure." ' * 
And thus writes Augustus; l;: '"Water exhi- 
1 biting externally the sacrament of grace, and 
* the Spirit internally operating the benefit of 
i grace, loosing the bond of crime, and restoring 
i the goodness of nature, regenerate the man in 
■ one Christ, born of one Adam."' ' f Here 
Justin regards water baptism not as cleansing 
the soul, but terminating, as to its efficacy, on 
" flesh and body only:" and Augustine con- 
templates baptism as a sacrament " exhibiting " 
grace externally ; while the internal change is 
the work of the Spirit. The man is regenerated 
externally by water baptism, but internally by 



* Refut. p, 2&8, 



* lb. p. 416. 



356 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



the Spirit's operation. — That these are ' inse- 
1 parable^ we have before shewn to be a popish 
conceit. 

§ 9. The Bishop openly avows, that to rege- 
nerate means to baptize, — or that regeneration 
is never used either in the scriptures or the 
Fathers hut in connexion with baptism. Of 
this let the reader judge from the following 
passage in Xrenjeus : * " The Lord is 6 the first 
< born from the dead/ and receiving into his 
£ bosom the ancient Fathers, he regenerated them 
i into the life of God, he himself being made the 
' beginning of those who live, as Adam was made 
1 the beo-inning of those who die. Wherefore 
' Luke, also beginning the genealogy from our 
6 Lord," carried it back to Adam, signifying that 
' they did not regenerate him hut he them into 
'"the gospel of life." '* The Lord Jesus is here 
said to "regenerate'' the ancient -Fathers "into 
the life of God;" but did he baptize them? 
I'senjeus evidently uses the word " regenerate," 
as the Calvinists often do, — for that spiritual 
change, or the beginning of a life from God, 
which baptism only represents externally, with- 
out any necessary connexion between the sign 
and the thimx signified. 

§ 10. The Bishop of Lincoln strenuously 
* Refut. p. 301. 



sect. II. Quotations militating against the Bishop, 357 

opposes the Calvinistic sentiment, respecting 
Predestination to Life. Let us now examine 
whether some of his ecclesiastical auxiliaries are 
not guilty of treachery. Clement of Alex- 
andria writes thus: £ " We say that there is one 
% ancient and Catholic church, collecting into 

* the unity of one faith, according to its own 
k testaments, or rather according to one testa- 
' ment, delivered at sundry times, by the will of 
' one God, through one Lord, those who had 
- been already ordained, whom God predestinated, 
€ who he knew, before the foundation of the 

* world, would be just." ' * If it be said, that 
Clement means, God foreknew that some of 
themselves would be just, and on that account 
they " had been already ordained " or " predes- 
tinated;" i reply, that this would be sinking 
the Father far below mediocrity as to Christian 
knowledge, and involving him in absurdities 
which his expressions do not necessarily imply, 
He must have known, in common with every 
Christian, that no descendant of Adam can 
make himself just, He therefore must have 
intended, by the mode of expression,, to guard 
against the pernicious heresy which discarded 
all discrimination of character, which founded 
every thing on the determination of Fate. 
Those whom he ordains, not Fate, to be living 



\ * Refut. p. 317. 



358 



Modern Calvinism Depended, ch. v. 



members of the true church, are foreknown to 
be "just," as well as to be saved: nor will any 
one surely hence infer that they made themselves 
just, as the basis of divine foreknowledge? If 
God makes anyone just, it must be from design, 
such must have " been already ordained, and 
predestinated " to this end. 

§11. In opposition to the same stupid heresy 
the same Father thus argues : £ " Either the 
£ Lord does not care for all men, and this pro- 
i ceeds either from his not being able to do so, 

• which it is wrong to suppose, as it would be 

■ a sign of weakness, or from his not being 
' willing, although able, which would not be 
' compatible with his attribute of goodness, for 

* he who for our sake took flesh subject to 
< suffering, is not slothful; — or, he does care for 
' all men, which is becoming him who is Lord 
' of all ; for he is the Saviour, not of some and 

■ not of others, since he distributed his favour 
' according to the fitness of every one, both to 
4 Greeks and to Barbarians, and to those of them 
\ who were predestinated, being called in his own 
i time, the faithful and elect;"* Here Clem ex t 
asserts, that the care, and government, and 
merciful dispensations of God, had an univer- 
sal aspect, , and not to one privileged nature or 



* Refut. p. 316. 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop, S5Q 

class of men to the exclusion of others. Jesus 
Christ is " Lord of all," both able and willing 
to " care for all men," who avail themselves of 
the common * salvation. He " distributed his 
favour," or sent the gospel message, not. to 
classes of natures, but to nations, u to Greeks 
and to Barbarians" indiscriminately, as his pro- 
vidence prepared the way, and as any people 
discovered an inclination to receive it, — which 
the author expresses by the phrase, <£ according 
to the fitness of every one." He could not 
mean a spiritual fitness among the " Greeks and 
Barbarians," as a reason why the Lord " dis- 
tributed his favour," or sent the message of 
mercy to them without involving a great absur- 
dity, — for what " fitness" of this kind could 
there be in gross idolaters? It must, therefore, 
refer to the external admission of the means of 
salvation, as opposed to a determined rejection 
of them. But while the Almighty Potentate 
thus distributes his favour among the nations, 
the question returns, Who of them became 
" faithful and elect," spiritual and worthy cha- 
racters in the church? Clement answers, not 
those who had a fatally good in opposition to 
others who had a fatally bad nature, as main- 
tained by many heretical disturbers of the 
Christian church ; — but " those of them who 
were predestinated, being called in his own time." 
These are " the faithful and elect," among all 



360 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



tn. v. 



nations, and in all ages, These, beside the 
common favour distributed to all their country- 
men, and beside the common call of the gospel, 
addressed to all alike, have also the privilege 
of a distinguished character, — u the faithful and 
elect." But did they acquire this character rf 
themselves ? What had they which they did 
not receive ? Who made them to differ from 
others around them? If God made them to 
differ, was it a sudden determination of his 
mind, when they, by a peradventure, made 
themselves good ? If not, they must have been 
4 predestinated' to be first favoured with the 
gospel, then to be effectually called, and after- 
wards to be faithful and approved characters, 
and consequently saved. 

§ 12. Jerome is very explicit on the same 
point. * " In whom also we have obtained an 
4 inheritance, being predestinated according to 
4 the purpose of him, who worketh all things 
4 after the counsel of his own will.' 4 It is to 
4 be considered, that predestination and purpose 
4 are here placed together, according to which 
4 God worketh all things after the counsel of his 
4 own will. Not that all things which are done 
c in the world are done with the will and counsel 
4 of God ; for then wicked, things might be im- 
4 puted to God j but that all things wJdch he 
4 does, he does with counsel and will, because 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop. 36 1 

* they are full of reason, and of the power of 
£ him who acts. We men will to do most things 
i with counsel ; hut effect by no means follows 
e the will. But no one can resist Him, to pre- 

* vent his doing whatever he wills. But he 
£ wills those things which are full of reason and 
4 cotmsel ; ' He wills all men to be saved, 

* and to come to the knowledge of the truth.' 

* But because no one is saved without his own 
6 will, (for we have free-will) he wills us to will 
i that which is good, that when we have willed 
i it, he himself also may will to fulfil his own 

* counsel in us." ' * Here Jerome very explicitly 
'declares his mind, that whatever God does, he 
does it " according to predestination and pur- 
pose." But as he proceeds to reconcile the 
irresistible will of God, with the free-will of man, 
by stating, that " he wills us to will that which 
is s:ood/' I am constrained to admire his inge- 
iruity in the mode of expressing a general truth, 
when apparently unacquainted with the real and 
scientific principle of reconciliation. 

§13. Jerome says, " He wills us to will that 
which is good:' He very properly rejects the 
idea of God willing any " wicked things," and 
confines the predestinating purpose and efficiency 
%o what is good. When therefore any one " wills 



* RefuL p, 406. 



362 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



ch. v. 



that which is good," he ascribes it to the will of 
God u according to his predestination and pur- 
pose," Thus far the learned Father is clear and 
satisfactory. But a mind intent upon scientific 
evidence enquires, upon what principle are we 
authorised to say that " God wills us to will," 
when at the same time our will is free ? How 
is this conceivable ? Here are two wills, — one 
irresistible, the other free ; what is it less than 
a plain contradiction, to suppose that the former 
operates upon the latter, according to a settled 
predestinating purpose, in order that it may 
will that which is good." - Thus we may rea- 
son and object, object and reason, in a circle 
and without end. Without a true principle, all 
such debates are but " vain jangling," and CJ op- 
position of science, falsely so called." But if 
we regard the will, both of God and the crea- 
ture, not as the source, but as the medium of 
active power, the source of power being the 
nature of the agent, the difficulty vanishes. 
God's infinitely active nature, under the direction 
of unfathomable wisdom, exerts his power by the 
medium of his will. His knowledge is infinite, 
and therefore his purposes are infinitely wise; 
his power is omnipotent, and therefore the me- 
dium of that power, his will, never fails to be 
effectual. In every creature there is a principle 
of defectibility, else he would be identified 
with tire Creator, who alone is without " varia? 



4 



V 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop. 3(53 

bleness." And this principle, which is only a re- 
lative defect, though not the will of the creature, 
is yet a source of the manner of willing ; 
otherwise the volitions would not be according 
to the nature of the agent, — a supposition to 
the last degree absurd : since if the agent do 
not will according to his nature, we might 
reasonably conclude that the divine volitions 
may be weak, unwise, or unholy ! Now, seeing 
that the will operates according to the nature 
of which it is the medium, nothing remains but 
the existence of a good nature in order to secure 
a good Will. As an effective will follows an 
effective nature, so a defective will follows a 
defective nature. All men, however, have, in 
themselves considered, a defective nature, and, 
as fallen, a corrupted nature, ever u inclined to 
evil:" At the same time the will remains free. 
What then is requisite to secure a good will in 
a free-agent ? An influence from God, I answer, 
the source of all good, on man's nature, or 
heart, as the scriptures often express the idea, 
while the will, the medium of his power and 
nature, remains perfectly free, or exempt from 
compulsion and restraint. Here we have a 
satisfactory principle to reconcile certainty on 
the part of God, and freedom on the part of 
man ; a principle, I will venture to affirm, 
against which no argument can be brought, no 
denial asserted; which may not be fairly met by 



564 Mo be us Calvinism Defended^ ch, 



a redact io ad dbsurdum. As I am conscious of 
having no object in view but truth, — the esta- 
blishment of true primary important principles in 
theology and moral science, I hope it will not 
be thought unsuitably presuming, if as a private 
individual I solicit the attention of thinking men 
to this point, and, if they are so disposed, to 
bring it to the test of clear and rational objec- 
tion. Pure gold need not fear the heat of the 
furnace; — and what honest man would wish to 
ofive circulation to base coin? 

§ 14. We now advert to what the Fathers, 
quoted by the Bishop, say regarding Perseverance. 
There is one passage from Ambrose, which 
though already produced for another purpose,must 
not be omitted in this place. 6 " Perseverance 
i is not of the man who willeth, or of him who 
' runneth; for it is not in the power of man: 
£ but it is of Godj who pitieth, that you may be 
* able to complete xvkat you have begun? 9 * What 
Ambrose evidently designs to inculcate is this; 
that, though it is our incumbent duty to will 
and to run, that is, to use our utmost exertion 
in the way of holy obedience, the source of our 
perseverance is " God, who pitieth." If they 
who have begun well in the race of spiritual and 
holy obedience, obtain the prize of perfection^ 



* Refut. p. 382. 



sect, it* Quotations militating against the Bishop, 365 

this completion is " of God." I believe the 
modern Calvinists will be very well satisfied 
with this conclusion, viz. That all those who 
finally attain the perfection of glory, by perse- 
verance in holiness, attain it by the " power and 
grace of God.' 5 For my own part, I consider 
all other points, related to the subject, of com- 
paratively little moment. This point is of prac- 
tical utility, as tending to draw the heart to 
God every moment of time and every step of 
our progress ; to him from whom our strength 
is derived, and who alone can crown our efforts 
with success. But the discussion of the question 
a priori, Who shall persevere, is apt to degene- 
rate into useless speculations, greatly resembling 
another question, " Are there few that be 
saved?" The answer of incarnate wisdom was 
not to gratify speculative curiosity, but to rouse 
to holy solicitude and suitable exertion, " Strive 
to enter in at the straight gate.' 8 

§ 15. Augustine makes these remarks; 
4 <c The thief was justified, who, when all his 
c limbs were fixed upon the cross, and having 

* these two things at liberty, with his heart he 
6 believed unto righteousness, with his mouth 
6 confessed unto salvation, and immediately 
6 merited [obtained] this assurance, " To-day 

* shalt thou be with me in Paradise." For his good 

* works would have followed, if he had lived any 



365 Modern Calvinism Defended. cit. 

' considerable time among men, after he 
e received grace; they had however not pre- 
c ceded."'-* This proves that, in the view of 
Augustine, " grace received" was a sure prin- 
ciple of good works following. And it is for 
this we contend, that grace received by the 
will and purpose of God, ensures persevering 
obedience and well-doing. — The reader will • 
recollect, that my present object is not to 
collect from the writings of the Fathers all 
the passages on the respective points in de- 
bate, but to produce from the Bishop's own 
extracts a few passages that militate, in their 
fair construction, against his own avowed prin- 
ciples. 

§ 16. Let us consider next what the Fathers 
say on the subject of co-operation. If at any 
time they contradict themselves or one another 
(as they often do), that is not my concern. To 
avoid inconsistencies the first principles of truth 
ought to be strong and clear, and well settled 
in the mind. Neither ingenuity nor even piety 
(though the latter will avail more than the former) 
will prove a sufficient substitute in close inves- 
tigations. However, some of them were far 
better reasoners than others. Augustine : ( " I 
4 have applied my heart to fulfil thy statutes 



* Refut. p. 438. 



sect. II. Quotations militating against the Bishop. So7 

* alway." He who says, I have applied my 

* heart, had already said, " incline my heart 
e unto thy testimonies;" that we may under- 
' stand that this is at the same time both the 
f gft °f God and the exertion of our own will. — 
' The words of the apostle are, " Work out your 

* own salvation with fear and trembling." Why 

* then do I work out my salvation with fear and 
' trembling, since it is in my power to work 
4 out my salvation ? Do you wish to hear, why 
( it is to be done with fear and trembling? 
e "For it is God which worketh in you:" there- 
1 fore with fear and trembling. Because what 
4 the humble man obtains, the proud man loses. 

* If then it be God which worketh in us, why 
£ is it said, Work out vour own salvation? Be- 
( cause he so worketh in us, that we also work. 
6 " Be thou my helper," points out that he also 
f is a worker, who calls for a helper." '* Here 
Augustine acknowledges, with the Psalmist, 
that it is God's gift to incline the heart, or to 
infuse the principle ; yet that u he so worketh 
in us, that we also work," or ^ exert our 
own will! 5 The duty is ours to seek, but 
the operation is first God's, that ours may 
follow. 

§ 17. The same Father has the following 



* Refut p. 430, 



368 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



observations, among many other to the same 
purpose: '"To be strengthened with might/ 
f he [the apostle], says, ' by his Spirit.' This 
' is the spirit of grace. Observe what he 

* desires. He asks from God this very thing 
'which he requires from men; because that 
4 God may be willing to give, you also ought to 

* suit your will to receive. How can you be 
e willing to receive the grace of divine goodness, 

* who do not open the bosom of your will? He 
c says, e that he may grant you :' for you have 

* it not unless he grants it you ; c That he may 
' grant you to be strengthened with might by 
f his Spirit :' for if he grants you to be strength- 
e ened with might, then he will grant you not 

* to faint — The whole is from God ; not however 
' as if we were asleep ; not as if we exert no endea- 
' vour ; not as if we do not will. — You will be 
' the work of God, not only because you are a 
1 man, but because you are righteous. For it is 
4 better to be righteous, than that you should be 
t a man. If God made you a man, and you made 
' yourself righteous, you make a better thing 
' than God made." He however adds, " He 

■ that made you without yourself, does not 
'justify you without yourself. —He made you 

without your knowing it, he justifies you when 

■ you are willing." ; * In these passages we observe 



* Refut. pp. 433, 434. 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop, 369 

what God requires of man, that is, " to be willing 
to receive ;" and " this is the very thing which 
we ask from God." We ought to have a 
suitable will ; but we have it not of ourselves ; 
therefore we " ask from God this very thing 
which he requires." This clearly shews, that 
our duty is one thing, our ability another : and 
consequently, that without Gods immediate and 
predeterminating influence, the effect will not 
follow. " The whole is from God," yet not so 
as to excuse our supineness. If we could not 
" make ourselves," much less can we " make 
ourselves righteous." Yet, is our voluntary 
concurrence required, without which we have 
no right to expect the blessing. The same 
author observes elsewhere, that £ " the will 
4 itself and the action, are assisted by God, 
' and so assisted that we cannot will or do any 
6 thing well without that assistance." ' And 
again, ' " We have proved by the foregoing 
' testimonies of the holy scriptures, that there 
' is free-will in man, to live well and to act 
' rightly, so let us see what the divine testimo- 
' nies are concerning grace, without which we can 
e do nothing." ' * 

§ 18. Chrysostom, speaking of Judas and 
Peter, observes : ' " The one enjoying great 

* Refut. pp. 448, 449? 

% B 



370 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii.v. 



c assistance, was not benefited, because he was 
' not willing, and did not contribute his own 
' exertions ; but the other [Peter] having a ready 
c zvillj fell because he did not enjoy any assistance f 
( for virtue is composed of these two things. 
6 Wherefore, I beseech you not to be supine, 
4 referring every thing to God, nor to think 
f that, being diligent, you can do every thing 
4 right by your own labours. In these mysteries, 
e it is the part of God to give grace, and of man 
1 to supply faith T ' * In one part of this passage 
we have a very important truth, that u virtue is 
composed of these two things," divine assistance 
and "a ready will/' But when the author represents 
Peter as " having a ready will " when he " fell,"' 
his notions are confused : and when he speaks of 
Judas as " enjoying great assistance," he is more 
declamatory than judicious. For what evidence 
is there that Judas had more assistance than 
Peter, or that Peter when he fell had a more 
ready will than Judas? That Judas had "great 
assistance," in one sense, is plain, from the 
circumstance of his being one of the twelve 
apostles: he enjoyed converse with Christ, heard 
his discourses, saw his miracles, preached repent- 
ance, partook of the sacred supper, &c. But 
this " assistance," or more properly privilege, 
was common to all the apostles, irrespective of 



* Refut.pp. 488, 401, 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop. 37 1 

the state of their minds. In representing Peter 
as " not enjoying any assistance" when he 
fell, the meaning of the words is evidently 
changed from that of external privilege to in- 
ternal operation • for it is a plain fact that the 
former continued with Peter, as well as with 
Judas. It was, therefore, the internal operation 
of grace that Peter did not enjoy when he fell, — * 
in other words, he was left to himself. Nor is 
there any evidence that this was not the case 
always with Judas, as far as relates to real piety. 
When Chrysostom says, " it is the part of God to 
give graced he must mean, in order to he con- 
sistent with himself, internal influence; since it 
is that, in connexion with a ready will, of which 
" virtue is composed," which must needs be 
inward grace. This is further evident from its 
being represented as that " assistance " which 
Peter u did not enjoy " when his fall was occa- 
sioned ; while he did enjoy every external assist- 
ance as at other times. Of inward grace, there- 
fore, and a ready will, " virtue is composed." 
Consequently no exercise of will can be virtuous, 
which has not grace for its principle. Yet this 
principle itself, is not virtue, but the basis or 
principle of virtue, which influences the will to 
what is properly called virtue, or a virtuous 
action. Thus " virtue is composed of the^e two 
things;" and thus also "it is the part of God 



372 Modern Calvinism Depended. en. v. 

to give grace, and of men to supply faith," or to 

exercise belief. 

§ 19. We shall now, finally, examine what, 
the same Father, Chrysostom, says upon human 
weakness. * " In proof of what I have said, I 

* will quote to you the words of Christ himself: 
1 he said to Peter, * Behold Satan hath desired 
4 to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; 

* but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail 
' not What does this sifting mean ? To whirl 
c about, to move, to shake, as when things are 
6 sifted; but I, says he, prevented it, knowing 
6 that you cannot bear temptation. For the 

* expression, 1 that your faith may not fail, 
6 shews that if he had permitted, his faith would 
x have failed" ' * This passage is explanatory of 
the preceding, shewing that the assistance 
which Peter " did not enjoy," was a partial not 
a total defect. The assistance so far continued 
as to preserve the existence of faith as a prin- 
ciple, but not so far as to preserve its victorious 
exercise. For while the principle, as well as 
the exercise of faith, admits of degrees of 
vigour, its existence depends, not on its own 
indefectible nature, much less on the potency 
of free-will, but on the power and continued 
influence of Christ. So great is human weak-- 

* Refut. p. 459. 



sect. ii. Quotations militating against the Bishop. 373 

ness, even in the vessels of mercy, in proficients, 
in Peter the courageous, zealous, determined 
disciple of Christ, that " if he had permitted, 
his faith," root and branch, " would have 
failed." That he had free-will is certain: but 
free-will of itself is weak and unstable. If faith 
cannot stand its ground without the substratum 
of grace, assisting and upholding grace, — how 
can free-will ? 



S74t Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v« 



Sect. III. 

Quotations from the Fathers doubtful in Expression^ but 
not in Meaning, against the Calvinists, 

§ I. Passages respecting two natures, from Ignatius, Irenjeus, and 
Origen. § 2. Remarks on ancient Heretics who held two natures. 
§ 3. On Bardesanes and Valentines. § 4. Basilides and 
Carpocratbs. § 5. Manes. ^ 6, 7. Observations on these 
Heresiarchs and their dogmas. 

§ 8. Quotations on Christ's purchase* from Clement of Rome. ^ 9. 
From Athanasius; and ^ 10. From Jerome. 

§ 11. Concerning human worthiness, from Justin Martyr, § 12, Re- 
marks on Justin; and § 13, On the term worthiness, § 14. 
Quotations on the same subject, from Cyril; also § 15, 16. From 
Basil and Chrysostom. § 17. These views compared with 
scripture. 

§ 18. On the insufficiencv of Reason, from Justin Martyr. 

^ 19. On a necessity of consequence, from Justin Martyr. § 20. The 

subject continued, from Justin, Chrysostom and Iren^eus, 
§21. On man's right, from Tertullian. 

§ 22. On Free Will and Poner, from Tertullian j also \ 23. From 
Origen, Eusebius, and Augustine ; and $ 24, 25. From Justin 
Martyr. § 26. The same subject pursued, from Origen, 
\ 27, 28. Remarks on his opinion about the beginning of receding 
from good. 

§ 29 — 31. On Grace and Free agency, from Irenjeus and Hilary. 
§ 32. On Faith, from Iren^us. § 33, From Cyril; and § 34. From 
Chrysostom. 

§ 35. On Regeneration, from Gregory Naz, and § 36, 37. From 

Justin Martyr. 
§ 38. On Election, from Jerome. 
§ 39. Concluding Remarks. 

§ 1. 1VX a n y quotations are produced by 
the Bishop against the Calvinists, in which the 
Fathers reprobate the notion of two natures 
in man. And this is done, probably, because 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 37 O 

we sometimes speak of two natures in the 
Christian, one corrupt and the other holy. We 
maintain that every tri e or spiritual Christian 
has a depraved nature from the first Adam, and 
a spiritual nature or principle from the second 
Adam. — How, indeed, any one can deny this 
statement without at the same time impugning 
the authority of the inspired writings upon the 
point, is to me inconceivable: nor am I able to 
form a conjecture how the Bishop of Lincoln can 
controvert the sentiment we contend for, without 
condemning a great part of his own " Refutation/' 
— Let us, however, attend to some of the Fathers 
upon the subject of two natures in men. Ignatius : 
4 " I do not speak of two natures of men, but 
' that the one man is t sometimes of God, some-? 
■ times of the devil. If any one be pious, he 
' is a man of God ; but if any one be impiows, 
i he is a man of the devil, being made so, not 
' by nature, but by his own will." '* This is an 
entire quotation. Another follows from IrenMts : 
* Subdividing souls themselves, they say that 
' some are by nature good, and some by nature 

■ 6 bad."'t Again, from the last mentioned au- 
thor : * " They (the Valentinians) say, that some 

. 'men are good by nature, and some bad." 'J 
Again, from Clement of Alexandria we have 
this insulated extract : ' " He (Valentinus) too, 



* Refut. p. 288. k -f lb. p, 514. + lb. p. 515. 



376 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch.t. 



' like Basilides, supposes a race (ysvos) which is 
c saved by nature.'"* Of the same kind is the 
following passage from Origen : ' " Those who, 

• coming from the schools of Marcion, and Va- 
6 lentinus, and Basilides, have been taught that 

* there are different natures of souls." ' f 

§ 2. The reader may well express his surprise 
at the Bishop's conduct in producing these ex- 
tracts against the Calvinists. Indeed the words 
" two natures" may be found occasionally in 
Calvinistic writers ; but is there any similarity 
of sentiment, between them and the quoted 
heresies? Not the least. The Saturninians, 
Marcionites, Bardesanians, Valentinians. Basili- 
dians, Carpocratians, &c. according to a corrupt 
philosophy, or rather a visionary hypothesis, 
held that two Creators formed two kinds of 
men, possessed of two natures directly opposite, 
according to the characters of the two Deities ; 
that is, one benevolent, the other malignant, 
Saturninus held the doctrine of two eternal 
principles, one good and the other evil ; that 
ans world and its inhabitants were created by 
subordinate Deities ; that the ' • nature" given to 
men by their immediate creator was a mere 
animal life; that the good eternal principle 
added to them another nature, which was a 



* Refut. p. 518, 



+ lb. p. 520. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 377 

rational soul. Thus, according to this insane 
dreamer, every man had "two natures/' derived 
from two Creators ; — and, to perfect his folly, 
he further held, that there are two kinds of 
men; the one kind, just mentioned, who are by 
" nature " well disposed ; the other kind, formed 
by the evil deity, who are by " nature " wick- 
edly disposed ; and that the difference now 
subsisting among men, as good and bad, must 
arise from these, causes. 

§ 3. Marcion also bad similar notions 
respecting two eternal principles, one good, the 
other evil, and a middle deity besides, who had 
himself two mixed natures, composed of some- 
thing good and something bad. Mankind, he 
fancied, had " two natures," good, and bad ; and 
this middle deity and the evil principle, were 
perpetually contending for dominion over these 

two natures" respectively. Baiidesanes also 
held that mankind had " two natures," one 
formed by the Supreme Being, the other by an 
evil principle, the prince and author of all wick- 
edness and misery. From the former proceeded 
reason ; from the latter, passion. To this he 
added, that all matter was of a " malignant 
nature," and consequently all human bodies, 
whose original framer was the evil principle. 
Valentinus, in like manner, maintained that 
mankind had " two natures," consisting of an 



373 Modern" Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

equal portion of what was subtle and what was 
gross ; while the framer of these two natures 
was not the supreme Being, but a generated 
deity whom he called the Demiurge. This 
offspring of two of the Eons (of whom Valei>f- 
tinus created more than thirty) is represented 
as arbitrary and arrogant, aspiring to supreme 
dominion, as the God of the Jews, keeping 
mankind in slavery, &c. : but Jesus, one of the 
Eons, came to our world to chastise Demiurge, 
and to deliver mankind from his tyranny ! It 
must not be omitted that the mother of this 
tyrannical pretender resolved to add to the two 
natures which her son gave to mankind a third 
nature far better than the other two. 

§ 4. Basilides was a mystic of no less 
extravagance. He held that mankind had " two 
natures," derived from two sources, that is, one 
nature from malignant matter, self- animated 
and eternal, but moulded originally into human 
form by angelic hands ; the other nature was a 
principle of reason added to it by the kindness 
of the supreme deity. But still he left them 
under the dominion of their first formers ; who 
themselves, in process of time, fell into a state 
of depravity. To complete his blasphemous 
nonsense, he asserted that one of these was the 
God of the Jews, to counteract whose preten- 
sions, and to deliver mankind from the " two 



sect. in. Qiiotatio?is doubtful only in Expression. 379 

natures" now enslaved, Christ was sent by his 
Father, the supreme deity. Carpocrates dif- 
fered little from Basilides, except by adding 
a still greater portion of impiety to his philoso- 
phical reveries. 

§ 5. These heresies, among many others of 
minor consideration, made their appearance in 
the second century. In the third, the Mani- 
chceans made themselves prominent. Manes, 
the Persian, also held " two natures " in man- 
kind, one sensual, the other rational ; the latter 
derived from a good, the former from an evil 
deity. This impious magician, in common with 
the rabblement of Gnostics before mentioned, 
pronounced all matter to be eternally corrupt, 
and therefore denied a resurrection. The human 
body, he supposed, was originally formed by 
the prince of darkness, and was the prison of 
man's " two natures," or " two souls; 1 ' and the 
design of Christ, in coming into our world, was 
to liberate the better nature both from its lust- 
ful companion and from its prison ; when, 
having completed his mission, he returned to 
his native residence, the sun, favouring the 
better part of mankind with Manes as his 
Paraclete ! 

§ 6. Such is a concise account of the fan- 
tastical impieties of these heresiarchs, — who 



380 Modern Calvinism Defenses. ch. v. 



leaving the plain scriptures of truth, bewildered 
themselves and their followers among the fables 
and mythologies of the oriental heathen philo- 
sophy, falsely so called, — and to whom the 
Bishop of Lincoln would apparently be very 
glad to persuade us that the Calvinists are 
closely allied. " Opinions of earliest Heretics 
resembling tenets of Calvinism," proved from 
the ancient Fathers I Nothing can be plainer : 
as these Heretics held, that there are " two 
natures" in men, so the Calvinists maintain, that 
" by nature we are children of wrath," have a 
" carnal mind," which is 66 enmity against God," 
and that, by a plan of mercy and grace, some 
are " made partakers of the divine nature." 

§ 7. On the heresies above recited I would 
make a few remarks. 1. The specimens produced 
of the tenets of their leaders, are but a small 
part of their profane jargon. 2. Some of them 
put forth their germs in the apostolic age, and 
by degrees grew up, and infested a great part 
of the Christian church, for many centuries, 
though often assuming different aspects, accord- 
ing to the prepossessions of each prominent 
leader. 3. Many of them, not content with 
dogmatizing with a fertile imagination, unre- 
strained either by judgment or any tolerable con- 
sistency, permitted their infatuated adherents 
to indulge in the most licentious practices. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful out]) in Expression. 381 

4. It is not surprising if the ancient Fathers 
frequently adverted to their tenets and practices 
in their discourses and writings. 5. A proper 
knowledge of the prevailing heresy which each 
writer or speaker had in view, is the true key 
to open the meaning of many arguments and 
phrases employed by the Christian Fathers. 5. 
The Bishop of Lincoln has widely erred of the 
mark, while comparing the Gnostic and Mani- 
chean notions of "two natures" in men, with 
the sentiments of Calvinists, who keep closely 
to God's holy word, respecting the true cha- 
racter of Jehovah and the real state of man, as 
either sinful or gracious. 

§ 8. We shall now examine what some of 
the Fathers remark on Chris fs purchase, Cle- 
ment of Rome has this passage: 1 " Let us look 
' stedfastly at the blood of Christ, and see how 

* precious his blood is in the sight of God ; 
4 which being shed for our salvation, has obtained 
< the grace of repentance for all the world. Let 
' us search into all ages, and learn that our 
' Lord has in every one of them given oppor- 

* tunity for repentance to all such as are willing 
4 to turn unto him." ' # This quotation may 
have some appearance of opposition, to modern 
Calvinists, otherwise it would not have been 



* Refut. p. 238. 



582 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

produced by his Lordship as an entire extract, 
unconnected with other matter : but where is 
the reality of opposition? Clement explains 
what he means by " the grace of repentance " 
by an " opportunity of repentance ;" — and we 
maintain precisely the same. We profess that 
" the blood of Christ" (expressive of his whole 
humiliation unto death,) is a price of infinite 
value ; that the proclamation of this plan of 
mercy is a " grace," a great favour; affording 
to the children of men an " opportunity for 
repentance;" and that " all such as are willing 
to return" unto God through Jesus Christ, shall 
obtain u forgiveness of sin, according to the 
riches of his grace." Nor is it true that we 
hold, (whatever might be the conclusion of 
Calvin) that there is any reprobating decree to 
prevent repentance. 

§ p. The following passage from Athana- 
sius has more an apparent than a real opposition 
to our sentiments: ' k< By his death salvation 

* came to all, and every creature was ransomed. 

* He is the life of all, even he, who like 

* a sheep gave up his own body to death, as 
4 a ransom for the salvation of allP — " That 

* he might take axvay sin from all the race"'* 
These expressions, I conceive, must have been 



* Refut. p. 345, 346. 



«ect» in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 383 

designed to convey one of these two ideas : 
either, first, that "all the race" of mankind 
are to be actually delivered from the guilt, 
power, and effects of sin ; or, secondly, that the 
death of Christ is an adequate ransom, or price 
of redemption, for all, in such a sense as to 
entitle all who apply for an interest in it on 
gospel terms. The former, his Lordship will not 
assert, I presume ; and with the latter meaning 
we agree. The provision made, or divinely 
constituted means, is all-sufficient, and thereby 
an opportunity is afforded to all, to whom these 
glad tidings are proposed, for the remission of 
sin, and for obtaining salvation. 

§ 10. The quotation from Jerome, which 
follows, indicates a degree of rashness in the 
manner of assertion, but his meaning is far from 
being opposed to us : and I may add, that 
many passages might be easily adduced out of 
Calvin's works of a similar tendency. Jerome's 
words are : 6 " John the Baptist utters a false- 
6 hood when he points to Christ, and says, 
' ' Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away 
* the sin of the world,' if there be still persons 
6 hi the world whose sins Christ has not taken 
' away." 9 * What can the author intend, but 
that the atonement made is of adequate suffi- 



* Refut. p. 411. 



384 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. y 9 



ciency for all? Surely he could not mean that 
the minds and consciences of all persons in the 
world were freed from the dominion of sin, or 
" purged from dead works." But as there does 
not appear any middle meaning, and as he could 
not intend the latter, we agree with him in the 
former. " The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son 
of God, cleanseth us" to whom it is applied, 
" from all sin." To assert that it takes away 
sin from those persons to whom it is not applied. 
Is to contradict the whole tenor of scripture, 
and to outrage common sense, while the senti- 
ment itself is of the most licentious tendency. 
But to maintain that the sacrifice for sin is ade- 
quately sufficient for every person in the world, 
and is mercifully proposed as such to be received, 
on the terms of repentance and faith, without 
any reprobating decree to the contrary, is, in my 
apprehension, " a doctrine according to godli- 
ness." I must, however, observe, that neither 
chance, nor yet the potent force of free-will, is 
ever likely to put any person in possession of 
its efficacy, without the assistance of sovereign 
grace. 

§11. His Lordship has quoted some pas- 
sages out of the Fathers which relate to human 
XvorthinesSy that appear adverse to our senti- 
ments ; — the opposition still being more in 
sound than in sense. For example. Justin 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 385 

Martyr says: ' " We maintain that no wicked 
1 or covetous person, no traitor, no virtuous 
* person can escape God ; and that every one 
t will go into everlasting punishment or salva- 
c tion, according to the merit of his actions.— 
c That punishments and chastisements and good 
' rewards are given according to the worth of the 
' actions of every one, having learnt it from the 
' prophets, we declare it to be true." ' # Here 
probably the Bishop supposes that Justin main- 
tains a doctrine which we deny. We some- 
times say, that we have no merit of our own to 
recommend us to the favour of God ; and he 
says that rewards and punishments are (xar ag/av 
tojv TTpoL^soDv) " according to the worthiness of 
the actions" of every one. In the original the 
phrase in both places is precisely the same; 
though in one place translated " worth," in the 
other " merit." Perhaps these terms are con- 
sidered as synonymous; however, we hold no 
doctrine inconsistent with what Justin evi- 
dently intends. Actions have worthiness in one 
respect, and not in another ; or for one end, and 
not for another. 

§ 12. When we profess, that we have " no 
merit of our own," or, " no worthiness of our 
own/' to recommend us to God; we mean, that 



* Refut, p. 29i . 

2 C 



386 Modern Calvinism Defendeb. ch\ v* 

we have nothing which can be a ground of par- 
don and acceptance, in the sense of the apostle, 
" Not by works of righteousness which we 
have done, but according to his mercy he saved 
us." The contrast here is, between our works, 
with any worth or merit they may have, and 
another ground of recommendation and accept- 
ance appointed and revealed. This is no other 
than the mercy of God through the atoning 
sacrifice of Christ, " Other foundation can no 
man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus 
Christ," who is the foundation of apostolic 
doctrine, and the foundation of our faith, re- 
pentance, and hope. But should any one tell 
us, that there is no difference in the quality of 
actions, that one is not better or more worthy 
than another, as some of the heretics opposed 
by Justin did, and some sceptics noAV do ; we 
would reply with him, that human actions have 
a quality of worthiness or unworthiness, that 
there is an essential difference between obedi- 
ence and disobedience, and that this difference- 
will be produced in judgment This the holy 
scriptures abundantly testify. " For God will 
bring every work into judgment, with every 
secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it 
be evil."* " Wherefore we labour (or endea- 
vour) that whether present or absent, we may 



* Eccies. xii. 14. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression* 387 

be accepted of him. For we must all appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ; that every 
one may receive the things done in his body, 
according to that he hath done, whether it be 
good or bad." * 

§ 13. "Worthiness" is a comparative idea. 
Only a r.^son properly divine, is "worthy" of 
religious adoration. No one in the universe^ 
but " tlie Lion of the tribe of Judah," the 
divine Redeemer, was found " worthy " to open 
the " book" of prophecy. Compared with Gods 
perfect law, and the requirements of holiness 
and justice, no descendant of Adam is found 
" worthy " to say, I am perfectly conformed to 
them. Only Jesus Christ was, in this respect, 
" worthy and therefore to his worthiness, and 
not to our own, we as imperfect creatures are 
directed to look, that, interested in him, we 
may be able to plead exemption from the 
penalty we have incurred by transgressions and 
failures. But if we compare the penitent with 
the impenitent, the believing with the unbe- 
lieving, the virtuous with the vicious, the holy 
with the unholy, the obedient with the disobe- 
dient, or the fruitful with the fruitless ; then we 
justly say, that the former are " worthy " and 
the latter are worthless. The one sort is 



* 2 Cor. v. 9, io. 



V 



588 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

approved, the other disapproved ; the one is re- 
warded according to the divine promise, the 
other punished according to the divine threat- 
ening. And in this sense we can freely say 
with Justin, " that every one will go into 
everlasting punishment or salvation according 
to the worthiness (i. e. the moral character) of 
his actions." 

§ 14. In the same manner we agree with 
Cyril of Jerusalem, when he says, 6 " Have, O 
6 man, a sincere soul, on account of him who 
c searcheth the heart and the reins. For as 
? those who are about to enlist soldiers, examine 
6 the ages and persons of those whom they 
' enlist, so the Lord also in choosing souls for 
' his service, examines the will, and if any one 
6 has a concealed hypocrisy, he immediately 
e rejects him as unfit for true service. But if he 
c finds a person worthy, he readily gives him 
' grace. He does not give that which is holy 
' to the dogs." ' * Who is the " worthy person ?" 
The sincere, as opposed to the hypocrite. What 
does God give him ? A peculiar favour, the CJ seal 
of salvation," as he further explains it. And 
this we also maintain as perfectly scriptural. 
" Thou requirest truth in the inward parts." 
" God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to 



* Refat. p. 347. 



sect. in. Quotations doubt Jul only in Expression, 389 

the humble." " If I regard iniquity in my 
heart, the Lord will not hear me." 

§ 15. Thus also Basil: c "The Lord will 
' take away strength from a sinful people, but 
e he gives strength to them who act justly. 
' For unto every one that hath shall be given ; 
' but he who is enabled to do good works becomes 
' xv 07^ thy of a blessing from God" ' * This is an 
entire quotation brought against the Calvinists, 
but for what possible purpose? maintaining, as 
we do, that he who is " enabled to do good 
works" becomes " worthy (i. e. a suitable sub- 
ject) of an additional blessing from God." We 
also agree with the following passage in Chry- 
sostom : ' " Let us then, I beseech you, imitate 
' that just person, and be diligent to contribute 
1 our exertions, that we may make ourselves worthy 
e (i. e. suitable subjects) of assistance from God. 
6 For on that account he waits for opportunities 
* from us, that he may display his great kind- 
6 ness. Let us not, then, through negligence 
6 deprive ourselves of his gifts ; but let us hasten 
' and be eager to lay hold of the beginning, and 
' to enter on the path that leads to virtue, that, 
' enjoying assistance from above, we may be 
' able to arrive at the end. For we cannot 
4 rightly do any thing that is good, if we do not 



* Refut. p. 366, 



390 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



€ enjoy aid from above." '* What Calvinist ever 
supposed that men ought to remain in a state 
of stupid indifference or criminal negligence, in 
order to obtain " assistance from God," and 
enjoy " aid from above," without which " we 
cannot rightly do any thing which is good?" 
Do not we also, with Chrysostom, endeavour 
to rouse men from their lethargy, exhorting 
them to search the scriptures, to examine them- . 
selves, to consider their ways, to attend to God's 
testimony, and assuring them that they have no 
right to expect either divine assistance or any 
blessing from God, but in a diligent use of 
appointed means ? 

§ 16\ To the same purpose are many other 
passages of this author ; particularly the follow- 
ing : ' " Since then there are such snares, and 
' such attacks, do thou lead me in the way; for 
i I have need of thy assistance. For to be led in 
' the way is derived from him ; but let it be our 
1 endeavour to be worthy of being conducted by 
' that hand. For if you be unclean, that hand 
6 does not direct you ; or if you be covetous or 
1 have any other spot.'"f " Worthy of being 
conducted," that is, guidable. Now this is what 
we constantly inculcate upon our children and 
domestics, our auditors and associates. Does 



* Refut. p. 463. i lb. p. 469. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression, 391 

his Lordship suppose that we wish them to 
continue obstinate and refractory, or remain 
like blocks until they are spiritually animated ? 
Again : ' " He speaks of the inexpressible bless- 
' ings of those who received him, and briefly 
i comprehends them in these words, saying, * As 

* many as received him, he gave them power to 
1 become the sons of God." Whether they be 

* slaves, whether they be free ; whether they be 
6 Greeks, Barbarians, or Scythians ; whether 
e they be unwise or wise; whether they be 

* women, or men ; whether they be young or 
' old ; whether they be ignoble or noble ; whe- 
4 ther they be rich or poor ; whether they be 

* governors, or whether they be governed ; he 
' says, all are thought worthy of the same 
f honour." '* This passage clearly proves with 
what latitude Chrysostom, in common with the 
other Greek Fathers, used the term (a§*o$) worthy. 
" All are thought worthy," that is, suitable 
objects, to whom the gospel, the universal favour, 
should be proclaimed ; the inequality of their 
conditions, whether external or internal, forming 
no bar of exception. And when they by " faith, 
and the grace of the Spirit," as he afterwards 
adds, receive the proffered blessing, they 
have " stamped upon them one royal charac- 
ter." Thus, in both respects, they are alike 
" worthy." 



* Refut. p. 489. 



3Q2 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. y. 

§ 17. In a similar latitude of meaning the 
sacred scriptures use not only the terms worthy 
and unworthy, but also clean and unclean, holy 
and unholy, with many others. Thus it was 
revealed to Peter, that the Gentiles ought not 
to be regarded any longer unclean, unholy, or 
unworthy of the gospel message, in the view of 
a merciful God. By the mediatorial work of 
Christ, " the middle wall of partition" was pulled 
down, and in this respect all nations were 
thought equally " worthy" of the benefit. 
■i What God hath cleansed, call not thou com- 
mon or unclean. " If God regard the vilest of 
characters " worthy," in this relative sense, of 
having salvation by Christ proclaimed to them, 
so should we : and hence our exertions to send 
missionaries to idolaters, and the most abandoned 
of human characters among the Heathen. But 
who would infer thence, that they are worthy 
in a moral sense, before a change in them is 
effected? When, indeed, any of them become 
new creatures in Christ Jesus, and manifest by 
repentance, faith, and new obedience, that they 
have " the grace of the Spirit," they are thought 
<c worthy" of Christian fellowship. And when, 
as professing Christians, they shew the reality 
of their faith and profession of godliness by their 
works, — walking in the holy ways of Christ, 
exemplifying the peculiar spirit of Christianity, 
and persevering therein unto the end of life, — we 
are bound in charity, judging according to the 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 393 

testimony of God's word, that they are " worthy 
to walk with the Lamb in white that is, are 
suitable subjects to receive such favour. 

§ 18'. We sometimes speak of the insuffi- 
ciency of the powers of reason for answering 
certain purposes in religion; and therefore we 
are confronted with the following language of 
Justin Martyr: m< Our original existence was 

* not owing to ourselves ; but to follow those 
6 things which are pleasing to him, through the 
i powers of reason with which he has endowed 

* us, this persuades us and leads us to faith" ' * 
But what Calvinist opposes the use of reason 
for this purpose? Reason is the faculty by 
which we compare ideas,, and draw conclu- 
sions. By this faculty we are enabled to inves- 
tigate the evidences of revealed religion, to 
compare the claims of a pretended revelation 
with the true, to compare scripture with 
scripture, and one dispensation of religion 
with another. By this faculty we examine the 
divine testimony concerning the person, the 
work, and character of Jesus Christ, and 
conclude that he not only claims, but also 
deserves our hearts and lives; and thus, " through 
the powers of reason" we are led to believe. In 
this respect, reason 61 persuades us, and leads 



* Refut. p. 29L 



394 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. y. 

us to faith/' and this is evidently Justin's 
meaning. 

§19. Because the modern Calvinists advocate 
the cause of a necessity of consequence, in 
opposition to absolute contingence or mere 
chance, the Bishop has produced many quota- 
tions from the Fathers, in order to shew that 
their sentiments and ours are opposed to each 
other. Justin Martyr : ' " But lest any one 
6 should imagine that I am asserting that things 

* happen according to the necessity of fate, 
f because I have said that things are foreknown, 

* I proceed to refute that opinion also. — And, 
1 again, if mankind had not the power, by free- 

* willy to avoid what is disgraceful, and to choose 
6 what is good, they would not be responsible 
'for their actions."' * We also, as well as 
Justin, deny a fatal necessity of persons and 
actions. Fate, or the doctrine of fate, declares, 
that persons and actions are necessary in such a 
sense, that they could not have been otherwise ; 
now this we reject, because we believe that 
there is neither a person nor an action which 
might not have been otherwise, had it been the 
good pleasure of God. Supposing, however, 
persons placed hypothetically, in certain cir- 
cumstances, notwithstanding any conceivable 



* Refut. pp. 291, 292, 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression, 395 

freedom of will, nothing is contingent to the 
view of God. He knows what he will do, and 
he knows what we will do. If he pleases, we 
shall do well ; but if left to our own defectibility, 
and its negative cause, he knows we will not 
do well ; though every thing which it becomes 
him as a righteous governor to grant, should 
continue the same. The positive cause of all 
our good is from him, but the negative cause of 
all our evil is from ourselves exclusively; free- 
will in both cases remaining the same, as before 
proved. It is a manifest absurdity to talk of a 
free action, when past, as having no ground of 
its existence, either in God or in the creature, 
before it took place. Every action had some 
cause, either efficient or deficient, else it never 
could have taken place; and this cause, be it 
what it may, must be known to God no less 
before than after the act. To omniscience 
therefore the act must appear certainly future, 
if that foreknown cause be not prevented by 
him who alone is adequate to prevent it: and 
this certain futurition of all events which 
actually take place, we properly denominate 
hypothetical necessity, and sometimes a necessity 
of consequence. These distinctions w r e are 
constrained to make in polemic discussions, 
though we think it unsuitable and needless to 
impose them on unlearned auditories. 

§ £0. The subsequent passages are of similar 



3Q6 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. t. 



import. Justin Martyr: ' "Neither do we 
• say, that men act or suffer according to fate> 
' but that every one does rightly, or sins, 
6 according to his choicer ' * His choice, beyond 
doubt, is the immediate cause of the quality of 
his actions: but this does not imply that the 
choice itself had no adequate cause; or that 
it was not foreknown as a future certain ty, 
Chrysostom : c " Christ says — ' It must needs 
6 be that offences come ;' not weakening the 
4 freedom of choice, nor imposing any necessity 
- or force upon our conduct ; but foretelling 
e what would certainly happen from the wicked 
6 disposition of men, which was about to happen, 
6 not because of his prediction, but because of 
' the disposition of those who would admit of no 
•' remedy. For those things did not happen 
£ because he foretold them ; but because they would 
i certainly happen, therefore he foretold them."'f 
What can be plainer than this 'quotation in favour 
our of hypothetical necessity? We are suffi- 
ciently persuaded, and so was Chrysostom, 
that the will of man is free ; and yet there was a 
sufficient cause of the event, as a ground of 
certainty. What kind of necessity Chrysostom 
does oppose, is explained by himself, when he 
contrasts it with " freedom of choice," and 
explains it by the term " force;" an explanation 
in which we fully coincide. To the same effect 



* Refut. p. 297. Ibid. p. 497. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 397 

is Iren.eus's remark: '"All these things shew 

* the free-will of man, and the counsel of God, 
4 exhorting against disobedience, but not forcing 
6 our wills"'* Also Clement of Alexandria : 
' " Neither praise, nor dispraise, nor honours, 
6 nor punishments, would be just, if the soul 
4 had not the power of desiring and reject- 
ing, and if vice were involuntary T 'f We 
hold no necessity that implies " forcing our 
wills," and which renders our actions " in- 
% r oluntary." 

§ SI. Tertullian very properly observes: 
' " Every one has a right belonging to man, and 

* a natural power to worship that which he thinks 

* right ; nor is any one injured or benefited by 
e the religion of another. Nor is it any part of 
' religion to force religion, which ought to be 

* taken up spontaneously, not by forced % As 
the Bishop, in order to be consistent with his 
profession, must hold, that the established 
church is allied to, and inseparably connected 
with the state ; and as he asserts that his church 
s is not Calvinistic;']) he must, in self-consist- 
ency, exonerate the Calvinists from the public 
enforcing " act of uniformity." Why, then, it 
is natural to ask, does he produce this entire 



* Refut. p. 305. 
% lb. p. 318, 



•f- lb. p. 312. 
Jj lb. p. 590. 



398 Modern Calvinism Defended. cm. r. 



quotation from Tertullian against us? Do 
we not maintain that " every one has a right to 
worship as he thinks right?" Or does he suppose 
that with us it is a " part of religion to force 
religion?" Or does he imagine that we have some 
enchanting chains with which we are able to drag 
" by force * an audience sxwv asxouTiys ? 
Were we to judge merely from the tendency of 
the quotation, we might suppose it to have been 
introduced to overthrow acts of uniformity, or 
to encourage the separatist to stand firm to 
his principles in opposition to civil " force" in 
matters of religion. But whatever might be his 
Lordship's real motive for transcribing the pas- 
sage, he has' most effectually concealed it from 
vulgar scrutiny. 

§ 22. We have in the " Refutation" several 
quotations from the Fathers which treat of free- 
will and power, as if they stood * opposed to the 

* tenets of Calvinism ;' but which, in their 
genuine import, are perfectly consistent with 
those tenets. Thus, for instance, Tertullian v 
1 " A law would not have been imposed on a 
4 person who had not in his power [i. e, at his 
' option] the obedience due to the law ; nor 
' again would transgression have been threatened 
' with death, if the contempt also of the law 

* were not placed to the account of free-will. — 

* He who should be found good or bad by 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 3QQ 

£ necessity and not voluntarily, could not with 

* justice receive the retribution of either good 

* or evil — Moreover, if you ask whence that will 

* comes, by which we will any thing contrary to 
i the will of God, I will tell you : It comes from 

* ourselves" 9 * The whole connexion shews that 
the author meant by the phrase u in his power " 
the same idea as is expressed by * at his option," 
in opposition to that which destroys liberty. In 
the last sentence, Tertullian advances a very 
important sentiment, though it is more than 
probable that he was not aware of all the truth 
which the expressions are well adapted to 
convey. The sinfulness of a choice, " comes 
from ourselves." He was fully aware that the 
physical power of willing and choosing comes 
from God ; what he therefore intends is the 
source of its " contrariety to the will of God," 
and which, in the strictest and fullest sense, 
" comes from ourselves" exclusively. This is 
that negative principle of defectibility which 
God has not in himself, and cannot possibly 
impart to the creature, because it is no object 
of power : I will add, that it is the only prin- 
ciple by which we can possibly account, in a 
satisfactory manner, for an endless number of 
phenomena in the moral world. Were it better 
understood by inquisitive minds, it would ex- 



* Refut. pp> 319, 320, 



400 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. y* 

elude a thousand perplexities, shew the folly of 
many past controversies, and exhibit in the most 
amiable light the true character of the blessed 
God. 

§ 23. Orig-en very well observes, (why his 
Lordship has quoted the passage against the 
Calvinists, is best known to himself) : 6 " The 

* soul is endowed with free-will, and is at liberty 
6 to incline either way ; and therefore the judge- 
€ ment of God is just, because the human soul, 
c of its own accord, obeys either good or bad 

* advisers."'* The same introductory remark is 
applicable to the following observation of 
Eusebius : £ " So that it must be altogether 
6 acknowledged, that we have liberty, and the 
' free-will of a rational and intelligent nature"^ 
Does his Lordship know any Calvinist, or can 
he produce any Calvinistic author, who does 
not accord with Eusebxus's remark? Again, 
Augustine says : ' " Every one is author of his 
1 own sin. Whence, if you doubt, attend to 
f what is said above, that sins are avenged by 
6 the justice of God ; for they would not be 

4 justly avenged unless they were committed 

* with the will. — It follows that nothing. 

6 makes the mind a companion of lust, except 
4 its &wn free-will"'' '1 Who doubts it? 

* Refut. p. 339. * lb. p. 343. % lb. p. 413. 



1 



sect. in. Quotations douhtfut only in Expression. 401 

§ 24. On the same subject, Justin Martyr, 
in his Dialogue withTRYPHO, the Jewish fatalist, 
observes : ' " But that those, whether angels or 
' men, who are foreknown that they would be 
1 unjust, are not zvicked through the fault of God. 
' but that each through his own fault is what 
' he is, I have shewn above. But that you 
' may not have any pretence for saying, that 
' Christ must necessarily have been crucified, or 
' that in your [our] race there are transgressors, 

* and that it could not have been otherwise, I 

* have already observed in few words, that God 
' desiring that men and angels should follow his 

* will, determined to make them with full poxver 

- [freedom] to act justly, with the means of 
e knowing by whom they were made, and 
' through whom they were called into existence 

* out of nothing; and with this condition, that 
' they were to be judged by him if they acted 

* contrary to right reason ; and we men and 
' angels shall be by ourselves convicted of 
e having acted wickedly, unless we make haste 
' to reptnt. But if the word of God declares 
' beforehand, that some, both angels and men, 

* will be hereafter punished, because he knows 
6 that they would persevere to the last in 
' wickedness, he foretold it, but not that God 
€ made them such. Wherefore if they will repent, 

* all who are willing to obtain mercy from God, 
1 have it in their power [i. e. at their option] ; 



402 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



€ and the word pronounces them happy, saying, 
c Blessed is he to whom God shall not impute 
'sin.'"* 

§ 25. Here Justin evidently combats fatal- 
ism. He shews that angels and men " are 
not wicked through the fault of God," but 
" each throuoh his own fault." And is not this 
the doctrine of modern Calvinists? And when 
he replies to Trypho's objection (or/ sIsl Xpigov 
gaupm^vai) " that Christ must necessarily have 
been crucified," and that (sv rw ysvst 7j/xa)v) " in 
our race there are transgressors," and " that it 
could not have been otherwise," he remarks, in 
opposition to fatal necessity, that it was God's 
counsel and will (7roirj(rai rouroug aure^oucig Tpog 
Hxaio7rpoL^ioLv) to make them with full free- 
dom, or at their oxen disposal, to act justly." 
His object clearly is to establish freedom as 
opposed to fate : and this is further evident by 
his denying " that God made them such," that 
is, wicked Then he further shews, against the 
fatal system, that " all who are zvilling to obtain 
mercy from God (owavrai) "may" ox have it at 
their option. They " have it in their power," in 
the sense of a potentia non peccandi ; that is, 
they are not forced to sin, but are left at perfect 
liberty from sinning. So that neither God nor 
fate urges them on to be wicked, or to " per- 
severe to the last in wickedness." And when 

* Refut. p. 295. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 403 

he says that it was not necessary that Christ 
should be crucified, he could not mean, without 
frightful impiety, that it was in no sense neces- 
sary, but that it was not by fatal necessity: he 
came to be a Saviour, not by fate, but by the 
merciful counsel and gracious pleasure of God. 
Nevertheless, as the crucifixion of Christ was 
infallibly certain, before it took place, it was 
therefore hypothetically necessary. For if 
Christ came into our world as a perfect character, 
according to the divine purpose, and if devils 
and wicked men (whose wickedness originated 
in themselves,) were not restrained in the execu- 
tion of their purpose, there was an infallible 
ground of certainty, notwithstanding their 
freedom to any conceivable degree. All that 
was good in the whole affair was from God ; all 
that was wicked, from the wickedness of the 
agents exclusively. God's part was effected by 
him, but the wickedness of the agents was only 
permitted, or not hindered. And he well knew 
how to over-rule their evil designs for the good 
of men and for his own praise. " The wrath of 
man shall praise thee, and the remainder of 
wrath wilt thou restrain." 

§ 26. In the same manner are to be under- 
stood the following quotations from Origen": 
* " This also is settled in the doctrine of the 
e church, that every rational soul has free-will, 



404 MoDEltn Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



c and that it has to contend against the devil 
c and his angels, and the powers which oppose 
c it, because they strive to burden it with sins : 
' but we, if we live rightly and prudently, en- 
£ deavour to rescue ourselves from this kind of 
c burden. Whence, consequently, we may under- 
' stand, that we are not subject to necessity, so as 
1 to be compelled by all means to do either bad or 
' good things, although it be against our will. For 
6 if we be masters of our will, some powers, 
' perhaps, may urge us to sin, and others assist 
4 us to safety ; yet w T e are not compelled by neces- 
■ sity to act either rightly or wrongly. — There 
* is no nature which does not admit of good or 
' evil, except the nature of Gad, which is the 
'foundation of all good. — The Creator indulged 
'-the minds formed by himself with voluntary 
c and free motions, that the good in them might 
' be their own, since it was preserved by their 
c own will; but indolence and dislike of exertion 
( in preserving good, and aversion and indif- 
' ference to better things, caused the beginning 
' of receding from good" ' * In these passages 
many important verities are contained. " Every 
rational soul has free-will." " We are not 
subject to necessity, so as to be compelled by all 
means, — although it be against our will" " The 
nature of God, which is the foundation of all 



* Refut. pp. 322, 323. 



■sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 405 

good, does not admit of good or evil;" but 
" there is no other nature which does not." 
il Indolence and dislike of exertion in preserving 
good, and aversion and indifference to better 
things, caused the beginning of receding from 
good" This last sentence is an attempt to ac- 
count for the origin of moral evil ; and is unob- 
jectionable, as far as it goes, 

§ 27- But as Origen was writing on a point 
of moral philosophy, an opponent had a right 
to ask, hozv came " indolence and dislike," or 
how came " aversion and indifference," to take 
place in free-agents ? Is not each of these a 
moral evil? Is moral evil the cause of itself? 
Or is it uncaused ? Surely to be uncaused is 
the exclusive prerogative of the self -existent 
Being. , Here neither Origen, nor any of the 
Fathers, have a word to say, — but merely im- 
pose silence upon the enquirer. But why must 
he be silent ? Because " secret things belong to 
God." The enquirer however urges, that this is 
a mere evasion, until evidence is produced that 
it ought to be reckoned among the divine arcana : 
for that there are many things of that descrip- 
tion, does by no means prove that this is one of 
them. — But it is unprofitable to enquire further. — 
What ! supposing the truth be ascertained, — 
and one of the most radical of all truths. How can 
you prove to me, adds the querist, that any truth, 



406 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

especially any primary truth in morals, is unpro- 
fitable. I do not want to pry into forbidden 
secrets, but tell me plainly, without any evasion, 
what is the true cause of criminal indolence, or 
dislike, or aversion, or indifference? Probably, 
the right knowledge of the cause of the disease, 
may lead me to the remedy : and surely this 
will be a very profitable thing. — He receives for 
answer, If we can but be content with our 
ignorance of this punctilio . (i till we get to 
heaven," we shall then know all about it. — He 
replies, if you were to call the cause of gravi- 
tation, or the motions of the heavenly bodies a 
" punctilio," it might be endured ■ but I can 
never admit, while I possess the use of my 
faculties, that the cause of " indolence" should 
be viewed in that light. Besides, if I have not 
a cure of indolence (towards which the know- 
ledge of the cause may be very profitable) I 
may never get to heaven ! I want, therefore, 
to know it now, if knowable,— and the sooner 
the better. — But it is one of the unknowabUs. — 
A bold assertion; how came you to knozv that? 
Is it self-evident, or will jt admit of proof? 
And be pleased to recollect, if you cannot 
prove it to be among the " unknowables," even 
you must allow, that it may be known. 

§ 28. Whatever God in his wisdom and 
mercy has revealed, or has not revealed, we may 



Sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 407 

be morally certain that he has not prohibited so 
profitable a knowledge as that of the cause and 
cure of " indolence ! " If I look into myself, 
I may see not only a depraved nature, but also 
a negative principle of defectibility. By this 
I am alarmed, and flee to God as my helper. 
The more clearly I perceive the cause of indo- 
lence or indifference, and at the same time the 
cause of its cure, the more I cleave to God all- 
sufficient, the more I depend upon him for aid, 
the more humbly I walk with him : my adora- 
tion of him is animated, my presumption and 
self-confidence are checked, my filial fear is 
awakened, my gratitude for undeserved favours 
becomes strong and ardent. I now see, that every 
creature, in comparison with God, is " less than 
nothing and vanity the mysteries of redemp- 
tion, — of redemption from impotence, from sin 
and slavery, I now receive with redoubled 
thankfulness and exultation : now more than ever 
is the conviction strengthened, that a life of 
faith, hope, and love, a life of prayer, devotion, 
and diligence, is the only rational and wise 
life. Most true it is that barren subtleties are 
chilling to piety, but primary truths shine upon 
the heart like the glorious sun, and cherish the 
heavenly guest who dwells in it as in • the 
temple of the living God. 



i 29- There arc some quotations from the 



408 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

Fathers brought forward by the Bishop, in order 
to put Calvinism out of countenance, respecting 
grace and divine agency, which, when fairly 
examined, are very friendly to our cause. His 
Lordship thought (else, why should he produce 
it?) that the following insulated passage out of 
Iren^eus is calculated to refute us : ■ " He hath 
c made manifest that we ought with our calling 
i to be adorned also with the works of justice, 
' that the Spirit of God may rest upon us." ' * 
Now this we consider as a sound, plain, practi- 
cal truth. If we neglect to " do justly, love 
mercy, and walk humbly with our God," what 
right have we to expect that the Spirit of God 
will rest upon us? Again, his Lordship might 
suppose the following passage from Hilary a 
victorious one against us : ' " But perhaps some 

* one, through this religious modesty of the 
e prophet, will dare to say thus impiously; If, 
' says he, all things are from God, then human 
c ignorance is free from blame, because it can 
' obtain nothing but what it receives, as given 
( by God. And in the first place this is an 

* impious sentiment, that a person should think 
< he does not obtain those things which belong 

* to believers, because he is not indulged with them 
c by God. But the prophet has removed all 
c occasion of this impious excuse. For, first, 



* Refut. p. 303, 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 409 

* when a person prays he has performed a duty 
' suitable to his weakness ; then he has con- 
J nected the exertions of human devotion with 
' the gifts of God. For when he says, 1 Teach 
6 me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes, 5 he shews, 
■ by the humility of his prayer, what belongs to 
' God. But when he subjoined, 6 and I shall 

- keep it unto the end,' he declared the duty of 

- his devotion. And in other things also he has 

* bound both together by a mutual connexion, 
6 when he requested to be led into the path, and 
1 when he himself wished for it. For he placed 

* with honour those things first which are from 
c God, and then he added those things which 
' are of man, with a confession of humility and 
£ duty. He prays therefore God to give. The 
6 beginning therefore [in point of duty] is from 
1 ourselves, when we pray that the gift may be 
( from him : then, because it is his gift in conse- 
4 quence of our beginning [as an act of duty] it 

* is again our act that it is sought, and obtained, 

* and that it continues."'* 

§ 30. These remarks of Hilary's discover 
much good sense, as directed against a supine and 
impious objector. It was a doctrine well-known 
and acknowledged in his day, that grace was 
sovereign, or at God's peculiar disposal; hence 



* Refut p. 360. 



410 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v, 



the objection, — and the answer is not only 
ingenious but solid, when taken in the sense 
intended. The substance of it is clearly this, 
That no one has a right to complain of partiality 
in the divine distribution of grace, or to expect 
any bestowment of it, while he neglects a plain 
duty. This, on our part, is the " beginning ;" here 
lies the order of obligation ; and to deny it, as 
the objector did, is " impious." Has he a right 
to complain, or has he any ground of excuse, 
who will not begin to act the part of duty, 
because he is not first indulged with special 
favours? The supposition is a virtual denial of 
the whole system of moral obligation. It is 
with arguments similar to those of Hilary that 
Calvinists reply to impious cavillers. " Duty 
is ours," and especially the duty of prayer, but 
the gracious answer is from the Lord. " Ask,, 
and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; 
knock/and it shall be opened to you." He that 
" restraineth prayer before God," forsakcth his 
own profit, and foregoes all rational expectation 
of blessings from him at whose disposal they 
are. But though w r e are bound in duty to begin, 
God is under no obligation. He can " begin" 
when he pleases, in conferring favours, without 
soliciting our permission. " Ye have not chosen 
me, but I have chosen you." It is our duty un- 
doubtedly to begin choosing him ; but he has the 
prerogative of a sovereign Benefactor to choose 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression, 411 

whom and when he pleases ; and to bestow 
favours at a time and in a degree directed by 
unerring wisdom, 

§ 31. The foregoing sentiment is further ex- 
plained by the same author : ' " Human weakness 

■ is incompetent to obtain any thing of itself ; and 

■ this only is the duty of its nature, that it should 
' be willing to begin to form itself into the family 

5 of God. It belongs to the mercy of God to 
( assist those who are willing, to confirm those 
' who begin, to receive those who come. But 

6 the beginning [in point of obligation] is from 
• ourselves, that he may perfect it." 5 # The point 
in question with Hilary was, What is " the 
the duty of our nature?" Is it to neglect, to 
delay, to stand cavilling with our Maker, our 
Benefactor, our equitable Ruler, and final Judge ; 
or to begin to seek his favour in the discharge 
of incumbent duty ? In similar circumstances, 
the Calvinists would answer as he did. It would 
be easy to multiply passages to the same import, 
were it necessary ; but these may be sufficient, 
as fair specimens, to shew the real meaning of 
the authors when they speak in some connexions, 
of the " beginning" being from " ourselves/' 
and which his Lordship too hastily supposed to 
be adverse to our sentiments. Allowing that a 



Refut. p. 362. 



412 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



Calvinist might sometimes say, God begins, and 
we follow; or, the true Christian works from life 
received; still there is no real inconsistency, 
because they do not mean the same kind of 
beginning. Beside, the modes of expression are 
directed against opposite erroneous extremes. 
The Fathers opposed the grossest fatalism 
among the philosophers and heretics; and the 
Calvinists have had but too much reason to 
check another heretical pravity, sprung from 
the Pelagian school, which exalts human self- 
sufficiency to the throne of the Most High. 

§ 32. Some quotations are adduced by the 
Bishop respecting faith which have a verbal 
aspect of opposition,— but nothing more. Thus, 
for example, Irenjeus : c 11 God has preserved to 

* man a will free, and in his own power, not only 
i in works, but also in faith, saying, 6 Accord- 

* ing to your faith, be it unto you ; 3 shewing 
e that the faith of man is his oxen, because he 
e has his own will. And again, ' All things are 
6 possible to him that believeth :' ' And, ' Go 
6 thy way ; and as thou hast believed, so be it 
4 done unto thee/ And all such expressions 
c shew that man is in his own power with respect 
' to faith. And on this account, ( he who be- 

* lieveth in him hath eternal life: but he who doth 
' not believe the Son, hath not eternal life, but 

* the wrath of God shall remain upon him.' In 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful onhj in Expression. 413 

' the same manner, God both shewing his own 
< goodness, and signifying that man is in his 
i own free-will and power, (sui arbitrii, ac sua? 
4 potestatis nominem significans) said to Jeru- 
' salem, " How often would I have gathered thy 

* children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
6 chickens under her wings, but ye would not ! 

* wherefore your house shall be left desolate." ' # 
Here Irenjeus is professedly opposing those 
heretics who pleaded for a fatal necessity and 
force, to the exclusion of judgment and will. 
They held that some are good and others evil^ 
from this kind of necessity, while their own 
election or choice was out of the question. The 
Father therefore, very properly, asserts that man 
is a free agent, even in the exercise of faith. 
On this, his annotator justly observes that faith is 
taken by divines in a two-fold sense ; for it may 
be considered as either acquired by hearing the 
word of God, or as an infused principle.*)" To 
argue therefore from the one acceptation to the 
other, is not conclusive. When we maintain 

* Refut. p. 307. 

+ Fidem duplicem consfUuunt Theologi, priorem quae elec- 
tione vel auditione verbi Dei acquiritur, hinc acquisitam 
vocant. Hanc Cyrillus Ierosol. dogmaticam, Apostolus 
lid em ex audita nominat. — Pes !c riorum fidem quod a Deo 
penitus infundatur mentions nostris, infusam appellant. Hanc 
donum Dei esse, compluribus scriptis ostendunt Augustinus 
fct Cyrillus. Iren^i opera, p. 419. Ed. 1.639. 



414 Modern Calvinism Defended. of. $*J 



> that faith is the gift of God, we do not deny, 
but firmly hold, that man, as a free-agent, is 
bound in duty to " believe with the heart unto 
righteousness." 

§ 33. In the same manner we accord with 
these expressions of Cyril: c " Those therefore 
' who receive this spiritual and saving seal, have 
e need also of their own free choice ; for as a 
' writing-pen, or a weapon, has need of one to 
6 act with it, so grace also has need of those who 
'believe.'"* In short, what we maintain, in 
exact conformity with Cyril, is this, that faith 
as ail infused habit, is entirely from God, and 
his free gift; but as an exercised grace, is our 
ow T n free choice. So that, in the latter accep- 
tation, "grace also has need of those who 
believe," — for how can any one become a believer 
without his own will embracing the divine record 
or testimony ? 

§34. To the same purport are the following 
w r ords of Chysostom: ' "But perhaps some one 
6 will say, if every thing which the Father give§ 
' comes to you, and to those whom he shall 
6 draw, and no one can come to you, unless it 
' be given him from above, they are free from 
■ all blame and accusation, to whom the Father 



* Refut. p. 348. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 4lo 

i does not give it. This is a mere fallacy and 
< pretence. For we have need of our own free will. 
4 For to be taught, and to believe, depend upon our 
' own will. But by the expression, ' that which 
6 the Father giveth me ' he only means, that to 
£ believe in me is no common thing, but requiring 
6 revelation from above, and a mind which piously 
i receives that revelation." '* The very con- 
nexion shews that Chrysostom combats the 
fallacious pretence of those who would fain 
excuse themselves from the exercise of faith, 
because the orthodox maintained, as we do, 
that, in one sense, faith is the gift of God. If 
we would believe, wq must hear the word, and 
be willing to be taught ; and if we would " be- 
lieve to the saving of the soul," it behoves us to 
cultivate " a mind which piously receives that 
revelation" which God has graciously afforded 
us. 

§ 35. The Bishop of Lincoln seems to regard 
the following quotation from Gregory of Nazi- 
anzum, as a formidable contrast to our senti- 
ments on regeneration: But we cannot allow 
that the real meaning of the passage is any 
other than what we acknowledge to be scrip- 
tural, though the mere phraseology may be 
considered as ambiguous. 4 " This is the grace 



* Refut. p. 494. 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



< [the exhibited favour] and power [i. e. ohliga* 
c zion] of baptism ; not bringing a deluge upon 
6 the world, [i. e. this is not its design] as 
' formerly, but purifying every one from his 
' sins, and entirely removing the obstructions 
' or spots which are caused by wickedness. 
' [This is what it sacramentally exhibits, and 

* this is the obligation under which it lays us.} 
6 To speak in few words, we are to consider the 

* power [i. e. the obliging force] of baptism as a 

* contract with God for a second^ [i. e. a holy] 
c life, and a more pure conversation — there being 
' no second regeneration'' ' # It seems to me 
plain, that Gregory does not treat of Baptism 
as the mere act of washing, or of any effect of 
it ex opere operato, but of what it sacramentally 
exhibits, and what is the obligation resulting 
from it ; baptized Christians being considered 
by him, by virtue of " a contract with God," 
as under an explicit obligation to live a life be- 
coming their profession, " and a more pure 
conversation" than they were before accustomed 
to. And as to the concluding clause, " there 
being no second regeneration," we admit it as 
a truth, whether the term "regeneration" be 
taken for the sign, or for the thing signified ; 
that is, for baptism, or for a spiritual reno- 
vation : As there is no divinely instituted- 



* Refut p. 374, 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 417 

repetition of the sign, so neither is there a second 
birth of the Holy Spirit : there being in the 
appointment of God, but " one baptism," either 
sacramentally or spiritually considered. At the 
same time we profess, that millions beside Simon 
Magus may have been baptized with water, 
without being baptized with the Holy Spirit: 
and consequently, that baptismal regeneration 
and spiritual regeneration ought not to be con- 
founded. For my own part, I would not be 
solicitous about the term " regeneration," pro- 
vided the idea, or scriptural truth which we 
mean to express by it, be allowed. We are not 
so fond of controversy as to contend about verbal 
nrinutioe— to keep up "a strife of words." 

§ 36. Closely related to the last quotation is 
the following from Justin Martyr, with which, 
if it be taken as it was evidently intended by 
this Father, we fully accord. The difference is 
merely verbal. c " Whoever are persuaded and 
< believe, that those things which are taught 
' and said by us are true, and engage that they 
c can live agreeably to them, are directed to fast 
' and pray, and entreat from God forgiveness of 
( their former sins, we praying and fasting with 
' them. Afterwards they are conducted by us 
4 to a place where there is water, and they are 
i regenerated [i. e. baptized with water, which 
* is the sacramental sign of a new birth unto 



418 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. r. 



* righteousness], according to the same mode of 
1 regeneration [baptism] by which we ourselves 

* were regenerated [baptized], for they are then 

* washed with water in the name of the Father 
1 of the universe and the Lord God, and of our 
i Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost. 

4 For Christ said, " Except ye be born again, ye 
r shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. " '* 
On this passage his Lordship remarks, that it 

5 decidedly proves what was the doctrine of re- 
4 generation in the primitive church of Christ.' 
With due deference to his Lordship, I must 
-also remark upon it, that this passage only 
proves how Justin used the term " regeneration" 
in this connexion, but not the doctrine. It is 
indeed agreeable to our Lord's words, that with- 
out baptism there is no entering into his king- 
dom, the church; and it is equally true, that no 
one shall enter into the spirituality of that king- 
dom without being " born of the Spirit," 

§ 37. It is worthy of remark that Justin 
does not confine the term " regeneration," or 
being ''born again," to the ordinance of baptism. 
In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, he 
observes : " Jesus commanded us to love even 
bur enemies : which Isaiah also declared in many 
words, (ei/ Gig xat ro (xva-TTjpm TaTitu rye; ysvscrswg) 



* Refut p. 297. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression. 419 

in which [words of Isaiah] is the mystery of 
our regeneration, and in like manner [the rege- 
neration] of all those who expected Christ's 
appearance in the [celestial] Jerusalem, and who 
had laboured to please him by their works."* 
The words to which he alludes are in Isa. lvi. 
S — 11. Neither in Isaiah nor in Justin is 
there any allusion to baptism, but a totally 
different kind of regeneration, even a spiritual 
renovation ; a regeneration of which they were 
partakers who had gone to heaven, from age to 
age, prior to Christ's ascension. 

§ 38. There is one passage in Jerome which, 
at first sight, seems to militate against our view 
. of election, but in truth, when properly under- 
stood, accords with our sentiments. ' " Paul a 
' servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
' according to the faith of Gods elect; that is, 
' of those who are not only called, but elected. 
s There is also a great difference in the elect 
' themselves, according to the variety of works, 
1 sentiments, and words. Nor does it follow 
' that the elect of God either possesses faith ac- 
? cording [in equal proportion] to election, or has 
4 the knowledge of truth according to [proportioned 
' to the reality of] faith. Whence our Saviour 
f said to the Jews xvho had believed in him, - If 



* JysuNi Opera, p. 312. Ed. I6gg, 



420 



Modern Calvinism Defended, 



CH. V. 



c ye continue in my word, ye shall know the 
€ truth, and the truth shall make you free,' The 
e evangelist testifies that he spoke these things 
' to those who did believe, but who did not know 
c the truth, which they would have in their 
* power to obtain, if they would remain in his 
6 word, and being made free, they would cease 
£ to be slaves," ' # The whole drift of this pas- 
sage clearly shews, that what Jerome intended 
to assert, was simply this, — that among God's 
elect there are different degrees of faith, and 
amono-' believers there are different degrees' of 
knowledge. Is there anv Calvinist to be found 
who would dispute this ? 

§ 39. I am unwilling to prosecute this ex- 
posure of his Lordship's misconceptions farther 
lest my readers should begin to complain of 
weariness. At the same time they must bear in 
mind that the catalogue is by no means com- 
plete. It would be easy, indeed, to produce 
several scores of pages out of those very 
quotations, which the Bishop has triumphantly 
brought forward as 6 opposed to the tenets of 
Calvinism,' winch, if fairly examined, have no 
real opposition to our sentiments, and which 
derive even the semblance of opposition from a 
peculiarity of expressions and phrases familiar 



* Refut. p. 407. 



sect. in. Quotations doubtful only in Expression, 421 

to them, but seldom used by us, — expressions 
and phrases which may be very generally ac- 
counted for, by a careful consideration either of 
the prevailing errors of their day, which they 
laboured to subvert, or of the truths which they 
were solicitous to establish, 



422 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



en. v* 



Sect. IV. 

Quotations from the Fathers that are Unscriptural both 
in Language and Sentiment, 

1 . Remarks on the Christian Fathers as Teachers. 

§ 2. Quotations respecting Man as the cause and preserver of his oww 
go»dness, from Irenes. § 3. From Origev. § 4, From Atha- 
nasius. § 5, 6. From Chrysostom. § 7. From Clement of 
Alexandria. § 8. On the cause of difference and variety i« 
creatures, from Origen, 

§ 9. On Free-Will ceasing with this life, from Hilary. 

§ 10. On redemption, from Hilary. 

§11. On the permission of good, from Jerome. 

§ 12-— -14. On God being good not of necessity, from Jerome. 

§ 15. On Free-Will being weakened by grace, from Jerome. 

§ 16, 17. On no one being born without Christ, from Jerome. 

§ 18, 19. On a middle life and a middle sentence, from Jerome. 

$ 20 — 25. On the doctrine of Election, from Jerome. 

§ 26—28. — On Baptism conferring grace, from Chrysostom. 

§ 29. On graces given having no crowns, from Chrysostom. 

§ 30 — 33. On grace not preventing our choice, from Chrysostom and 
Theodoret. 

§ 1. The Christian Fathers did not propose 
themselves to the church of Christ as infallible 
teachers ; in this respect, they occupied the 
same rank with Christian ministers in subsequent 
ages, those of the present day not excepted. 
They professed only to explain the sacred oracles, 
and their explanations have no claim of exemp- 
tion from being brought to the test of liberal 
criticism and sound principles. There was a 
time, indeed, when the ipse dixit of a canonized 



*ect. iv. Quotations that are UnscripturaL 423 

Father, in the church, went as far in deciding a 
point of controversy, as an appeal to any sentence 
of the Stagyrite went to set at rest a knotty 
point of debate in the Aristotelian school. But 
by consistent Protestants those days are viewed 
with an eye of pity, as days of darkness and 
superstition. What is truly scriptural, devotional, 
and rational, we should thankfully receive and 
improve ; but what we may find in them of an 
opposite character, is by no means to be imposed 
upon us under the patronage of sainted or 
pompous titles, or by the argumentum ad vere- 
cundiam. Many of them were learned and pious, 
faithful and zealous; and these are our helpers, 
though not our masters. But many of them 
(and occasionally the very best) were fanciful 
rather than judicious interpreters of scripture; 
and in such instances therefore are not our 
guides to truth, but are rather beacons to warn us 
of our danger. To examine their defects is not 
a pleasant task ; but the Bishop of Lincoln, by 
giving them so much publicity, has rendered 
some notice of them unavoidable, in a professed 
examination of his work. 

§ 2. Some of these Fathers, after the most 
ample allowance made for their circumstances, 
speak of man as the cause of his own goodness 
and preservation, in an unjustifiable strain. Thus, 
for example, Xren^eus s c " But man, beings 



424 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

i endowed with reason, and in this respect like 
c to God, being made free in his will, and 
s having power over himself, is himself the cause 
6 that sometimes he becomes wheat, and some- 
£ times chaff"'* It may be said, he contended 
against heretical fatalists, who ascribed to every 
one a fixed and unchangeable nature. Very 
true; but this is like opposing one heresy by 
advancing another. Man indeed has free-will, 
and " is himself the cause " of the sinfulness of 
his actions, wherebv he becomes " chaff." But 
it is not true, that, in like manner, he "is himself 
the cause" of the goodness of his actions, whereby 
he becomes " wheat." The error consists in 
ascribing opposite effects to the same cause; 
and in confounding free-will with the proper 
cause of moral good or evil. If he meant to 
convey this idea — that our good and bad actions 
may be traced to free-will — we grant it : but 
we cannot admit this as the ultimate " cause" 
of either, much less of good actions. We allow 
further, that the immediate cause of our actions, 
whether good or bad, is in ourselves, as either an 
efficient or a deficient principle ; but then this is 
very different from saying that man " is himself 
the cause of his becoming wheat." The great 
fallacy consists in making man as much the cause 
of his good as of his evil : while the holy scrip- 



* Refut. p, 302, 



sect, iv. Quota! ions that are Unscriptural. 425 

tures very explicitly ascribe all our good to 
God, and all our evil to ourselves.* The same 
error is involved in the following sentence, by 
the same author : f " But he has placed the 

* power of choice in man, as also in angels, (for 

* angels are endowed with reason,) that those 
■ who should obey might justly possess good, 
£ given indeed by God, but preserved by them- 
6 selves/"! We think with the scriptures of 
truth, that God is ocr preserver; and that we 
are " preserved " or " kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation." The Lord is our 
keeper, our shepherd, our strong tower. If it 
had been said, it is our duty to preserve ourselves 
from the defilements of sin, to keep ourselves 
unspotted from the world, and in the love of 
God, it might be received as a scriptural truth. 
This, however, is widely different from asserting 
that the good received by men is " preserved 
by themselves." 

§ 3. It appears to me that the following sen- 
tence in Origen is not unexceptionable: ' " But 
because these vessels of which we speak, are to 

* be considered as rational, and endowed with 
6 free-will, every one is made a vessel of honour, 
£ or a vessel of dishonour, not by accident or 

* See James i. 14—18. 2 Cor, iv. 6 — and 1 Cor. iv. 7. 
f Refut. p. 304, 



426 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. t* 



* chance; but he who makes himself such, that 

* he desewes to be chosen, is made a chosen vessel 
6 or a vessel of honour." ' * The author's design. 
I acknowledge, is to rouse the indolent sen- 
sualist, lurking under the covert of fatalism : but 
it seems to me that no design or occasion what- 
ever can justify this mode of expression, — " he 
who makes himself such, that he deserves to be 
chosen." It appears equally offensive to Christian 
humility and philosophic truth. How contrary 
in language and sentiment from the strong 
affirmation implied in St. Paul's interrogations : 
" Who maketh thee to differ from another? and 
■what hast thou that thou didst not receive ?" f 
Do not these questions clearly imply, that Gob 
makes one to differ from another in what is good 
and valuable ; and that no one has any excel- 
lence but from him r But on the statement of 
Origen, a Christian may say, " I made myself to 
differ, I distinguished myself from all the unde- 
serving ones." What though your will was 
active in worthy deeds, was it not the Spirit of 
God who gave you both the will itself and its 
goodness? " Be not high-minded — quench not 
the Spirit." Give unto God what belongs to 
him ; " will a man rob God?" 

§ 4. Equally reprehensible, because unsciip- 



* Refut. p. 339. 



f 1 Cor. v*. 7* 



^ect, iv. Quotations that are TJmcriptural. 



427 



tural, is the following assertion of Athanasius; 
4 " For the knowledge, and accurate compre- 
6 hension of the way of truth, we have need of 
* nothing but ourselves.''' ' * How different from 
the language, and how opposite to the meaning 
of an inspired apostle is this ! " Not that we 
are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as 
of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of GW."f 
M But by the grace of God I am what I am ; and 
his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not 
in vain ; but I laboured more abundantly than 
they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which 
was with me." J Had Paul been asked^ Have 
you " need of nothing but yourself," — would he 
not have contradicted Athanasius in his pre- 
sumptuous assertion ? Had he been asked, how 
came you to obtain " the knowledge, and accu- 
rate comprehension of the way of truth," would 
he not have replied, " God, who commanded 
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined 
in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge 
of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ ? "j 
While the church of Rome blindly followed the 
sayings of the Fathers, it is no wonder, consider- 
ing the selfish propensities of our depraved hearts, 
that they should err so widely from the truths 
and blunder on the doctrine of human merit. 



* Refut. p. 344. 
J 1 Cor. xy. 30. 



f 2 Cor. iii. 5. 



Jj 2 Cor. iv. 6. 



428 



Modern Calvinism. Defended, 



CHV tJ, 



§ 5. Of the same selfish and censurable ten- 
dency is the following remark of Chrysostom : 
* u And the very circumstance, that this Patri- 
' arch [Abraham], who lived before the time of 
'.grace, and before the law, reached such a 
6 measure of virtue by himself, and from his 
* natural knowledge, is sufficient to deprive us 
& of all excuse. But perhaps some one will say, 
4 this man enjoyed great favour from God, and 
i that the God of the universe shewed great 
& regard for him. This I acknowledge ; but 
1 unless he had first shewn things from himself 
6 he would not have enjoyed things from God."'* 
What is this but the Popish doctrine of merit 
in its most exceptionable form ? This eloquent 
Father evidently confounds things that differ. 
He supposed that Abraham, because he lived 
" before the time of grace," that is, the time of 
the gospel, had not gospel promises, and was 
destitute of internal grace, and that his virtue 
was f - from his natural knowledge." Now this 
is clearly contradicted by the whole strain of 
scripture s " What shall we say then that Abra- 
ham our Father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath 
found? For if Abraham were justified by works, 
lie hath whereof to glory, but not before God."j 
He had to glory before men, that his faith was 
operative ; and his acts of faith and obedience 



* ReCut. p. 464. 



f Rom. sv. 3^2. 



sect. sv. Quotations that are Unscripturdh 423 

were justified and highly approved of God: the 
act of believing was his 'own, but the principle 
of faith was of God's gracious operation. And 
his knowledge was not "natural" but gracious: 
not less so than that of Paul, or any other Chris 
tian after " the time of grace." Internal religion 
is derived from the same divine source at all 
times ; and the difference, as to " grace/ 5 in the 
manifestative use of the term which he employs/ 
is only in degrees — not in kind, 

§ 6. There are other passages in the same 
writer that must sound very gratingly in the 
ears of those who properly know themselves. 
4 6i For if he be not a respecter of persons, as he 
■ certainly is not, but, looking to the intention, 
€ co-operates with us in our right actions, it Is 
4 evident that we are ourselves the cause of our 
4 obtaining his favour." 5 ** This is no less false 
reasoning than false divinity. The conclusion 
is illogical, that, unless " we are ourselves the 
cause of our obtaining his favour," God must 
be "a respecter of persons." For what is the 
proper and scriptural notion of God acting as a 
respecter of persons? Is it not to shew par- 
tiality to one rather than another in his judicial 
character? But this he does not; for he will 
judge every one according as his work shall 



* Refut p, 499. 



430 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. 



"have been. On the supposition that he is bound 
as a sovereign benefactor to shew compassion and 
kindness, only according as we do things worthy 
of them, who could be saved? This Father, 
therefore, confounds these characters of God, 
and the true state of mankind] confounds human 
ability with human obligation ; what a man actu- 
ally does with what he ought to do. Even 
supposing man to perform what he ought, in 
order to obtain any divine favour proposed to 
him, still it is a sentiment replete with self- 
ignorance, ingratitude, and corrupt theology, to 
ascribe this to himself as the " cause " of ob- 
taining it. 

| 7. Not less unjustifiable is the following 
declaration of Clement of Alexandria. c " It 
6 is in your power, if you will, to purchase this 
\ precious salvation, "with your own treasure, 
6 charity and faith, which is the just price of 
i life. This price God willingly accepts."'* 
Because God requires " charity and faith," in 
order to salvation, is it not to the last degree 
preposterous to call this " our own trea- 
ture," with which we " purchase this precious 
salvation \ " Some allowance mav be made for 
a rhetorical mode of speaking ; but rhetoric is 
ill employed when it is made to trample on 



* Refut. p. 311. 



sect. it. Quotations that are Unscriptural. 431 

theological truth. It would be difficult to find 
any thing among the most injudicious declaimers 
of the present day, however illiterate, of a 
tendency more injurious to divine truth, or 
more dangerous to the souls of men, than this 
passage and the preceding quotations. To pro- 
duce expressions and sentiments like these, as 
the genuine divinity of the ancient Fathers, 
with a view to " refute" Calvinism, is nothing 
but to sink their reputation, and to destroy their 
influence in the public esteem. 

§ 8. Nearly related to the last quotations is 
the following passage out of Origen : f " The 
4 cause of' the difference and variety in every 
' individual creature is shewn to arise from their 
i own motions being more ardent or more slow, 
< towards virtue or toward wickedness, and not 
* from the inequality of him who dispenses,"'* 
This Father has been often, and very justly, 
charged with corrupting Christianity by philo- 
sophy. But. had his philosophy been good, he 
would not have corrupted but illustrated that 
religion which is founded in the highest wisdom, 
and which emanates from eternal truth. It is 
$ philosophy or a science " falsely so called/' 
that corrupts Christianity; and we may truly 
retort upon Qrigen the counterpart of what 



* Re flit, p, 322. 



432 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



has been said of him; that by religion, imper- 
fectly understood in many points, he corrupted 
philosophy. Let us hear the language of St. 
Paul regarding " the cause of the difference 
and variety" among some rational creatures. 
" Now there are diversities of gif ts, but the 
same Spirit. And there are differences of admi- 
nistrations, but the same Lord. And there are 
diversities of operations, but it is the same God, 
which worketh all in all. — For to one is given 
by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another 
the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to 
another faith by the same Spirit ; to another the 
gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; to another 
the working of miracles ; to another prophecy ; 
to another discerning of Spirits ; to another 
divers kinds of tongues ; to another -'the inter- 
pretation of tongues. But all these worketh 
that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to 
every one severally as he will? * How different 
is this doctrine from Origen's false philosophy, 
that there is " no inequality of him who dis- 
penses," and that £ the cause of the difference 
and variety in every individual creature arises 
from their own motions." Though his assertion 
is universal, " every individual creature," and 
therefore philosophically absurd, I will admit 
that he means " every rational creature," and 



* 1 Cor. xii. 4 — II. 



sect. iv. Quotations that are Unscripturat. 433 

still the theology of the sentiment is both 
antiscriptural and in a high degree unreason- 
able. " Who made thee to differ from another/ 5 
for the better? Does it " arise from thy own 
motion, as more ardent toward virtue?" In 
human characters, doubtless, there are diffe- 
rences and varieties, and some are more ardent, 
others more slow : but what is their cause ? 
Origen's answer, as above, can satisfy neither 
the scriptural divine, nor the sound philosopher. 

§ 9. Another absurd sentiment we find 
among these quotations, is, that Free-will ceases 
with this life. Thus Hilary : " i For when we 
( depart out of this life, we depart at the same 
6 time from the right of will. — For when the 
' liberty of the zvill ceases, the effect also of the 
* will, if there be any, will cease""* I am willing 
to make every allowance that real candour can 
demand; and will suppose therefore that Hilary 
intended to convey the sentiment of probation 
being confined to this life. Even then, how- 
ever, the statement is crude, and calculated to 
make false impressions on the mind. But if he 
meant what his words naturally express, the 
notion is alike unscriptural and absurd. Are 
not the celestial inhabitants free and voluntary 
agents ? " Thy will be done on earth, as it is 



+ Refut. p. 358. 



434 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

in heaven." " And every creature which is in 
heaven, and on the earth — heard I saying, 
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be 
unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
the Lamb for ever and ever." * If these ser- 
vices in heaven are not voluntary, not the 
effects of free-will, it will be rather difficult to 
prove, I imagine, that there are any on earth of 
that description. 

§10. Among these quotations we also learn 
that all mankind are redeemed from all their 
iniquities. Thus the last mentioned author : 
' " He is good in whom we hope ; and hope is 
6 to be placed in him, because he is merciful, 
■ because there is abundant redemption with 
i him, for he redeemed all ma)ilcind from all their 
f iniquities"' 'f This is to extend the notion of 
universal redemption far beyond that of the 
advocates for universal restoration ! " Redemit 
ab omnibus iniquitatibus suis universos !"' Surely 
this is a circle to which his Lordship's ideas of 
redemption, however universal, cannot expand 
themselves. Had Hilary said that the price of 
redemption is adequate for all mankind, we 
could listen to him ; but what scriptural senti- 
ment, what principle of common reason, or 
what view of human society, can justify the 



* Rev. v. 13. 



f Refut. p. 3G3. 



sect. nr. Quotations that are Unscriptural. 435 

representation as here quoted. What truth 
can be more certain, even to ocular demon- 
stration, than the reverse of Hilary's assertion, 
that all mankind are not redeemed from all 
their iniquities : and that, on the contrary, a 
large proportion of mankind are willing captives 
to them. 

§11. In these extracts from the Fathers we 
are told, that God is not the cause but the 
permittcr of good. Thus Jerome teaches : 
• " Whether, therefore, with respect to good or 
i evil, neither God, nor the devil is the cause of 
£ it, because our persuasion cometh not of him 
' that calleth, but from ourselves, who either 
s consent, or do not consent to him that calleth 
6 — he himself permitted us to will that which is 
good.'"* It would, indeed, have been a great 
hardship imposed upon any creature, when 
inclined " to will that which is good/' not to 
have been " permitted" to do so. But what 
exalted views of self-sufficiency, and what de- 
grading views of divine operations does this 
representation exhibit ! One might be induced 
to think, from Jerome's language, that " to 
will that which is good," is a matter of course, 
if only "permitted." Jerome was not destitute 
of learning or genius ; but he was lamentably 



* Refut. pp. 404, 407. 



436 Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. v. 

deficient in just principles : on which account it is 
that he and many of the Fathers, are so often con- 
fused, erroneous, and self-contradictory. The 
permission of evil, conveys an idea very con- 
ceivable, but the permission of good, from the 
fountain and author of all good, is an ideji which 
has no archetype in the nature of things. 

§ 12. The same author informs us that God 
is good, but not of necessity. 6 " For if God be 
e good voluntarily, and not of necessity, he ought 
1 in making man, to make him after his own 
c image and likeness, that is, so that he too 
6 might be good voluntarily, and not of necessity. 
c — If he had been made such as to do good not 
c by will, but by necessity, he would not have 
4 been like God, who is therefore good because he 
c wills it, not because he is forced. — But when 
6 they say that he ought to be made such, that 
c he could not admit of wickedness, while they 
c impose upon him the necessity of good, they 
c desire that he should not be like God" ' * The 
reader might very justly be surprised that a 
Christian Bishop in the nineteenth century, sur- 
rounded with so many improvements in science, 
should admit into a controversial publication 
such trash as this, under the specious title of 
" Quotations from the Fathers, opposed to the 



* Refut. p. 408. 



j*ect. iv. Quotations that are UnscripiuraL 437 

tenets of Calvinism." It is no wonder that 
heresies sprang up so plentifully amidst attempts 
like these to vindicate the catholic doctrine: 
attempts which could have no other effect 
than to infuse additional strength into the arm 
of the assailant, and to render his heart impene- 
trable to the truth. 

13. In the first place, Jerome takes it for 
granted, in defiance of the strongest evidence, 
that 'voluntary" and '•necessary" cannot co-exist 
in God. But is it not a first principle of truth, 
that the existence of God is of eternal and abso- 
lute necessity ; and is it not equally true, that 
his will or voluntariness to exist, is inseparable 
from his existence ? Again, is not goodness an 
essential perfection of Deity, and therefore 
' necessary ; ' yet is it clearly impossible for the 
divine o'oodness not to be voluntary. In the 
second place, to suppose that God is " good 
because he wills it,'' is to make an essential 
perfection the effect of will ; which is not less 
absurd, than to suppose that his existence is the 
effect of his will ! If it be said that Jerome 
intended that the communication of good ad 
extra was voluntary and not necessary ; I reply, 
that in that case his account involves two impro- 
prieties. The first of these is a most inexcusable 
confounding of terms, the confounding of being 
good and doing good. When the Psalmist says, 



438 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 

" Thou art good, and doest good," * he expresses 
very different ideas. And when he says " Good 
and upright is the Lord," f he conveys a very 
different sentiment from another expressed in 
these words, " Truly God is good to Israel" % 
The other part of the impropriety affects his 
argument ; which is founded on a similarity of 
" good " in God and in man. Whereas what 
God claims for man as the ground of likeness is 
" doing good," or virtuous conduct, and not 
the communication of his goodness to others. 
And if the author meant by " being good " the 
same thing as " doing good" voluntarily, and 
not of necessity, is not such language adapted 
to perplex rather than convince, to betray a 
cause rather than defend it? 

§ 14. In the next place, Jerome supposes, 
most preposterously, that man would " not be 
like God," if lie were so made that cc he could 
not admit of wickedness," that is, of doing 
evil ! But is not this one essential thing wherein 
it is absolutely impossible for God to be like 
man? Man goeth astray speaking lies; but "it 
is impossible for God to lie." It is God's glory 
that " he cannot deny himself. It is as impossible 
for God to do wrong, or any thing but what is 
good, as it is for him to change his infinitely 



* Psa. cxix. 68. 



f lb. xxv. 8. % Ib Ixxiii. !• 



sect. iv. Quotations thai are VascripiaraL 439 

perfect holy nature. If it be objected that God 
could, if be pleased, do what is morally evil, 
but be will not; we are intitled to ask, what 
evidence there is for saying that u he will not?' 
It will certainly never satisfy any' one capable 
of a moment's reflection to be told that he never 
has done wrong, or that he declares in his word 
that he never wiU do so. On the other hand, 
in God's indefectible nature, or his absolutely 
invariable perfections of rectitude and holiness, 
we have a solid basis of trust and confidence, of 
faith, hope and love. But what then becomes of 
Jerome's argument against the Heretics? that 
man must needs be free to wickedness, other 
wise he would not be like God? 

§ 15. This Father advances another unfounded 
notion, that J'ree-will is weakened by grace, 
' " But where there is mercy and grace, free-will 

* in part ceases ; which extends only so far, that 

* we will and desire, and assent to what we think 
i right.'"* Here the province of free-will is, 
professedly and not improperly drawn ; it " ex- 
tends only so far, that we will and desire, and 
assent to what we think right" But what con- 
ceivable tendency is there in " mercy and 
grace " to make free-will (i cease in part Had 
Jerome properly understood, or duly considered, 
the nature of the will and its freedom, on the 

* Refut. p. 411.' 



440 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch..y. 

one hand, and of grace in its operations, on 
the other, he never could have imagined that 
mercy and grace can have any influence to 
diminish, to weaken, or any way to counteract 
our ," assent to what we think right." If a 
degree of grace in man makes his free-will cease 
in part, one might naturally conclude that the 
perfection of mercy and grace in God would 
make his free-will to cease entirely ! But grace 
in man is of an enlightening as well as of a holy 
nature; how then can it interfere with our willing 
what we think right? He who properly con- 
siders the subject may perceive, that a graceless 
person is free to choose what he thinks right, 
at the moment of choosing; and that a gracious 
person, in proportion as his gracious principle is 
operative, chooses not only what he thinks right 
(which is essential to freedom,) but also what 
really is right ; so that his thinking and the 
reality coincide. Jerome's doctrine is no 
less absurd than the supposition, where there 
is light, our freedom of movement in part 
ceases ! 

§ 16. We are again told by this grave authority 
that no one is bom without Christ. Thus he 
states : < " It is clear that all men have a natural 
£ knowledge of God, and that no one is horn 
4 without Christ, and without having in himself 
6 the seeds of wisdom, and of justice, and of the 



wEct. iv. Quotations that are UnscripiuraL 441 

' other virtues."'* Were a modern writer to 
express himself in this manner, he would be 
charged, and not unjustly, with mysticism, and 
perhaps with heretical enthusiasm : and with the 
utmost deference to the learned person who has 
adduced the passage, I would submit that antiquity 
has no prerogative to change the nature of truth. 
The first clause of the sentence is sufficiently 
vao-ue : but as it admits of a construction con- 
si stent with truth, I take no further notice of 
it. But what can the author mean by " no one 
is born without Christ?" Surely not that the 
Messiah's existence continues; nor probably 
that his mediation is co-existent with the births 
of all mankind. From the connexion, it should 
seem, he means that no one is born without some 
kind of interest in Christ. What kind of interest 
however, can it be? Is there in fact, any con- 
ceivable interest in Christ which is not founded 
in union to him ? Union by faith is out of the 
question : and his being united to our nature by 
his incarnation, could be no more a ground of 
interest to infants than to adult profligates ; the 
nature of each individual being alike included 
in the incarnation. He must therefore mean a 
spiritual union in virtue of which every one 
born has an interest in Christ. But is there a 
particle of evidence for this opinion ? Besides, 



Refut. p. 412. 



1 1 Vs 
442 Modern Calvinism Defended, cb. t„ 



allow it and you prove too much even for hfa 
Lordship, because in that case every one would 
be justified before he was baptized: it beingv 
is manifest from the whole tenor of the New 
Testament, that he who is thus united to Christ 
is in a. justified state. " There is no condemna- 
tion to them who are in Christ Jesus."' u He 
that hath the Son hath life/ 7 

§ 17. Again, what u seeds of wisdom, and 
of justice, and of the other virtues," without 
which " no one is born," can there conceivably 
exist in any human being, except as the effect 
of a vital, spiritual union? Nay, the notion 
abetted makes the second birth prior to the first, 
since, according to him, " no one is born with- 
out Christ;" or at all events the first and second 
births are coeval. Now as it is contended by 
his Lordship that baptism is the new birth, I 
confess I do not perceive how he can honestly 
disown the fair inference, that " no one is born 
without baptism ! " Moreover, as there is " no 
second regeneration," why should any adult 
persons be baptized, and why should Christ 
say, " Ye must be born again?" On this 
author's principle, it might have been replied. 
We were not born without Christ, we had from 
the first breath a new nature, " the seeds of 
wisdom, and of justice, and of the other Vir- 
tues ;" and if the design of baptism be to 



sect. iv. Quotations that are U/iscripturaL 443 

confer" or to " convey" these blessings, it 
comes too late : and as our natural birth can- 
not be repeated, so neither can our spiritual 
birth. In brief, this Father's notion must be 
considered as a groundless enthusiastic hypo- 
thesis, until it be made to appear that " no one 
is born without the indwelling spirit of Christ," 
■ — and in proportion as any one succeeds in the 
attempt, consequences will follow not a little 
disastrous to his Lordship's doctrine of baptism 
and regeneration. 

§18. The Bishop attacks Calvinism, by an 
insulated quotation from the same author, con- 
cerning a middle life and a middle sentence. As 
the modern Calvinists are so prone to run into 
extremes, possibly the insertion of the following 
passage was intended to counteract their eccen- 
tric propensities. £ " It is not to be feared but 

* that there may be a certain middle life between 

* virtue and sin, and that the sentence of the 
' Judge may be. in the middle, between reward 
' and punishment." ' # - Now as I am at a loss 
to know against what Calvinistic extremes this 
middle doctrine is intended to be operative, 
unfortunately I cannot profit by it. Let us, 
however, re-examine the passage ; for it was 
neither written by Jerome, I presume, nor 



* Refut. p. 415. 



444 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. y. 

quoted by his Lordship without some design. 
" It is not to be feared ;" from this we may 
infer that it was intended by the author as a 
consolatory doctrine, and calculated to cheer a 
disconsolate parent on the loss of an infant 
child, especially if death seized it unbaptizecL 
This, however, will not qjo ; for the author 
believed, as we have seen, that " no one is born 
without Christ, and without the seeds of every 
virtue :" and clearly he who has the seeds of 
every virtue has a virtuous nature, and he who 
has Christ is free from sin and condemnation. 
This middle doctrine therefore cannot apply to 
new-born infants: nor is it to be supposed 
that the ascribed benefit is withdrawn until 
forfeited by some actual transgression, as this 
would turn the scales, and their life would no 
longer be a medium " between virtue and sin/' 

§ 19. We have sometimes heard it asserted- 
by a certain class of preachers, that the virtues 
and charities of men are a counterbalance to 
their sins and failings : that, for instance, when 
the scripture says " Thou art weighed in the 
balances/' the meaning is, that thy sins are 
put in one scale, and thy virtues in the other. 
Now it may so happen that the weights are 
equal, without any preponderance one way or 
other. Who can tell but this may be the 
" middle life" intended by Jerome, which is 



sect. iv. Quotations that are Un scriptural. 445 

to receive from the Judge a " middle sentence 31 
between reward and punishment. But I am 
apprehensive that this also will not succeed. 
Because, first, one unpardoned sin is a heavier 
"Weight than all the virtues of any man put 
together in the opposite scale: a conclusion 
which easily admits of formal proof, but for the 
truth of which I shall Only appeal at present to the 
proper nature of sin and of human virtue. Again, 
if the man's transgressions are forgiven, or his 
sins covered, they are never likely to be put in 
the scale : what is blotted out is not to be pro- 
duced : virtues and charities have the whole 
exclusive sway, — and what becomes of the 
middle life, and the middle sentence ? If we 
appeal to scripture, instead of human fancies 
ancient or modern, we may soon learn that 
there is no medium between being in Christ 
and out of Christ; between being justified as 
united to him, or condemned as not united to 
him ; and that there will be no medium at the 
final judgment between i: Come ye blessed/' 
and " depart ye cursed." If indeed there were 
anv force in Jerome's doctrine against the 
Calvinists, it would go to establish the doctrine 
of purgatory, a Umbos infanthim, or a limbos 
pat rum. The Papists must have felt extreme 
regret when they found that they could not pre- 
% 7 ail upon the Protestants to abide by an appeal 
to the Fa tliers upon all disputed points. 



446 Modern Calvinism Defended. cm. v. 



§ 20. This author is not a little confused 
when he endeavours to ascertain the scriptural 
doctrine of Election. Of this let the reader 
judge from the following specimen: 4 " What 

* then did God choose? For if he gives the 
' Holy Spirit to whom he wills, through which 

* love works good, how has he chosen to whom 
' he gives it? For if it he given in consequence 
1 of no merit, there is no election ; for all are 

* equal before merit ; nor can it he called elec- 
1 tion, where things are exactly equal. But 
' because the Holy Spirit is not given except 
4 to those who believe, God has not chosen the 

* works which he himself gives, when he gives 
' the Holy Spirit, that we may do good works 

* through love; but nevertheless he has chosen 
'faith.- — Therefore God did not in his prescience 

* choose the works of any one, which he was 
c himself about to give ; but he chose faith in 

* his prescience ; so that he chose him who he 
i foreknew would believe, to whom he might 
s give his Holy Spirit; that by good works he 

* might also obtain eternal life." ••* On this 
passage I would make a few remarks. And, 

first, if there be no election but in consequence 
of personal merit, (for no other is in question), 
Low came the apostle Paul to be " a chosen 
vessel," and arrested in his career of sin, before 



* Rcfut. p. m u 



sect, iv. Quotations that are Unscripturah 447 

he had any such merit ? Whereas if we view the 
Redeemer, on the ground of his own merit, 
acting the part of a surety, rescuing Paai from 
the power of sin and satan, giving him light 
and life by the operation of his Spirit, whereby 
he is convinced of sin, of righteousness and of 
judgment ; and if, moreover, as the effect of this 
first grace, we view him full of agitation, crying 
out u Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" 
then fervently praying from this principle of 
faith for more light and instruction : we behold 
a plain, consistent, scriptural and rational pro- 
cess. And though the circumstances of this 
case are extraordinary, there is no reason to 
conclude that the nature of the divine process, 
as to causality, is different from other con- 
versions : but even were the case a solitary- 
one, in this respect, it is sufficient to overturn 
Jerome's maxim, " if the Spirit be given in 
consequence of no merit (i. e. in the object,) 
there is no election." 

§21. I remark, second!?/, that the ground of 
his argument, for all are equal before merit" 
is fallacious for want of a distinction of the 
terms. We grant that " merit" is regarded in 
ail election or choice ; but what merit, or whose 
merit ? The scripture tells us that the elect are 
" chosen in Christ," and what can this import 
less than for his sake, or on the ground of his 



448 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



merits? He who has the Spirit of Christ, has 
an interest in him, in his merits, and his federal 
righteousness, while he who "has not the Spirit 
of Christ, is none of his/' Hence the term 
" equal " ought to be distinguished. Two 
persons, one interested and the other not inte- 
rested in the merits of Christ by a spiritual 
union, are in this respect not equal, and there- 
fore on Jerome's own maxim, " without merit 
there is no election," the one may be elected 
and not the other, without having recourse to 
personal merit by a subsequent act -of believing. 
For, in the nature of things, the union and 
interest must precede a living faith. To sup- 
pose that a dead faith has merit to procure the 
Holy Spirit, is surely an absurdity too gross to 
require a refutation. 

§ 22. I remark, in the third place, that though 
in regard to " merit" or personal worthiness, 
the Calvinists consider all men " equal,"' it does 
not follow from our principles, that God sees 
no ground of preference. His understanding 
is infinite, his wisdom is to us unfathomable. 
He adapts means to ends, in a manner we are 
unable to scrutinize ; and knows, with unerring 
precision, how to select out of the same unme- 
ritorious lump, materials for vessels of more 
or of less honour. None are reserved to wrath, 
but for their abuse of liberty and the powers and 



sect. iv. Quotations that are Unscriptural, 449 

means with which they were favoured ; nor are 
any chosen in Christ without a divine reason. 
He is the author of our natural powers, he 
supports and invigorates them, he preserves and 
protracts our lives, and fixes the bounds of our 
habitations. Taking all into the account, he 
knows how the choice of one, rather than ano- 
ther, is adapted to suit his plan of wisdom, and 
to display " the praise of the glory of his grace." 
Bat at the same time that distinguishing bene- 
volence reigns, in the distribution of benefits, he 
is infinitely remote from wronging any man, or 
doing the smallest injury to the work of his hands. 

§23. In the fourth place, by what logic- 
could Jerome infer that faith is meritorious, 
while good works are not meritorious ? Because. 
it seems, God " himself gives works, when he 
gives the Holy Spirit, that we may do good 
works through love." But how does it appear 
that " works" are the gift of God, while "faith" 
is not? The scripture says, " By grace are ye 
saved, through faith ; and that (xai toutq, i. e. 
flsoti to tiaypov, nempe to credere, vel jidei) not 
of yourselves ; it is the gift of God,— for we are 
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, which God hath before ordained 
that we should walk in them," * " For unto you 

* Eph. \l 8. JO, 

% G 



450 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v, 

it is given in the behalf of Christ (to si$ olvtw 
viseveiv) to believe on him"* How decisive 
the evidence that faith is no less " the gift of 
God" than good works. The actions, both 
believing and doing good, are alike ours, but 
the spiritual as well as natural ability to act, is 
from God, who " worketh in us both to will and 
to do of his own good pleasure." Consequently, 
if it be a good reason that God does not choose 
works, because he gives works ; it follows, from 
revealed evidence, that he does not choose faith, 
because he gives faith. 

§ 24. " He chose faith in his prescience, so 
that he chose him whom he foreknexc would 
believer Here is a difficulty. If a man must 
not have any influence of the Holy Spirit to 
enable him to believe, lest it should take away 
the merit of faith, how is he to acquire it, so 
that it may become a meritorious ground of his 
election? In the sight of God, and therefore 
in his prescience, a dead faith can have no merit, 
nor can it bring the Holy Spirit into the soul ; 
it must then be a lively faith that is chosen. 
But whence comes this ? For supposing, with 
Jerome, that " no one is bom without Christ," 
or without " the seeds of faith;" and supposing 
too that baptism has conveyed to the subject 



* Philip, i. 29. 



sect. iv. Quotations that are Unscriptur ah 451 

something additional ; it is more than probable 
that these " seeds " have4ost their prolific virtue 
by an indolent, careless, carnal or dissipated 
life. By his loose or profligate conduct, his 
baptism, and his interest in Christ is lost. If 
ever he had a lively faith, these things have 
brought death upon it. And now it requires a 
resurrection. On this Fathers principle, here 
is a hopeless case. If the man be left to himself, 
where is the ground of hope? That he ought 
to believe is certain, because he has a plain 
testimony from God for that purpose ; nay more, 
that he ought to believe with all his heart, that 
he may obtain righteousness ; but still the diffi- 
culty returns, how is he to do this good work, 
" believing with the heart," without being 
quickened from above? How perplexing the 
case ! If he be assisted to believe, his merit is 
destroyed; and yet if he have no merit, he 
cannot be chosen ! Though this learned Father 3 
however, leaves us in clouds and perplexities, 
and encircles us with contradictions, the inspired 
volume is clear and explicit on the point. " And 
you hath he quickened who were dead in tres- 
passes and sins ; wherein in time past ye walked 
according to the course of this world." u We 
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works,"* " The new man is created in 



* Eph. ii. K 2> 



452 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



righteousness and true holiness." * " God who 
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he 
loved us ? even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ." (r^xag 

(TUVS^COOTTO lY f (TB TO) XpUTTCO, Xel SV Xpi(TTW.) That 

is, tee, Je:cs and Gentiles together, he has caused 
to live spiritually by Christ. " By grace are ye 
saved." f Grace is the alpha and omega of our 
salvation ; and the mode of its administration is 
by effecting a vital union with Christ ; which is 
the only security a fallen creature has for faith 
and good works. Hence the principle by which 
we believe is called " the faith of the operation 
of God:' 

§ 25. If God chooses faith on the foreknow- 
ledge of one and another believing previous to 
any quickening operation or energy, there was 
an infallible ground of that foreknowledge ; 
because to know certainly beforehand what is 
in itself uncertain, is a bald contradiction. Thus 
God foreknew with absolute certainty that 
Adam would transgress. His sinful posterity 
are in circumstances far less favourable for 
performing any spiritual act. Now I would ask 
any considerate person, is it easier for a sinner 
to believe with his heart in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, than it was for Adam to abstain from 



* Eph. i7. 24. 



f Eph. ii. 4 y 5. 



s£( t . iv. Quotations that are Umcriptural. 453 

the forbidden fruit ? And if he failed in circum- 
stances so favourable to encounter every temp- 
tation, what conceivable ground of certainty is 
there that millions of sinful creatures will educe 
from themselves, unaided by divine operation, a 
spiritual principle and an effectual exercise of 
faith in the Saviour? It is no wonder that the 
Romish church is so fond of resorting to the 
protection of some favourite Fathers, when they 
find them such valuable auxiliaries in upholding 
their doctrine of human merit: but that any 
Protestant divine should countenance their folly, 
is in truth too much like the desertion of an 
Israelite to the camp of the Philistines. 

§ ( 26. The Bishop of Lincoln contends that 
Baptism confers divine grace, and to confirm his 
opinion he appeals to the Fathers. For my own 
part, I regard his Lordship to the full as good 
a patriarch as many of them, and could as readily 
take his word for a sentiment. I shall therefore 
presume to offer a remark or two on the follow- 
ing passage from Chrysostom : 1 " For you also 
' enjoyed divine grace at your baptism, and were 
6 made partaker of the Spirit, although not so 
( as to be able to perform miracles, but in a 
e degree sufficient to secure a right and correct 
£ behaviour ; so that the perverseness lies in your 
1 own negligence only.'"* In the first place, as 

* R of ut, p. 450.. 



454 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v, 



this is a mere assertion without proof, as there 
is not even an attempt to produce evidence for 
it, what auditor or reader could rationally receive 
it as a fact ? It is so far from being a self-evident 
truth, that it requires either decisive scripture 
testimony or some cogent inferrable argument, 
in order to induce conviction. In the next place, 
every catechumen was supposed to enjoy divine 
grace before he was baptized ; otherwise, what 
concern had he with that sacred rite which 
requires of adults the believing with the heart ? 
And who can conceive of a person possessed of 
divine grace without being also a " partaker of 
the Spirit " of grace in his ordinary operations ? 
If Chrysostom therefore only reminds baptized 
persons of what they enjoyed at their baptism, 
but not by their baptism, and that they were 
then partakers of the Spirit, but not as the con-^ 
sequence of that rite, on w T hich point the minister 
and the faithful formed a charitable opinion ; it 
forms no argument for the instrumentality of 
baptism in conveying these blessings. 

§ £7. And, finally, if it be said that it was 
m the days of this Father a doctrine acknowv 
ledged in the church, and therefore did not 
require proof ; that the catechumens were taught 
to expect the blessings of grace and the Holy 
Spirit, at that time ; and possibly the baptized 
might be conscious of possessing these blessings 



sect. iv. Quotations that are UnscripturaL 455 

by means of the ordinance ; I beg leave to offer 
a few other observations. If this was a doctrine 
if acknowledged " in the church at that time, 
we ask, on what ground was it so acknowledged ? 
Was it on the ground of scripture testimony? 
Let it be produced, and fairly interpreted. Was 
it on the ground of apostolic tradition? Who 
is evidence for this, and what credit is due to 
his testimony ? Even supposing the tradition 
did not pass through a corrupt channel, and 
assume new aspects from successive retailers, 
we still demand, w T ho has appointed apostolic 
tradition as a standard of doctrine in the church? 
A rational enquirer after truth has no more to 
do with pretended traditions than he has with 
ecclesiastical councils. " To the law and to the 
testimony," the appeal should be made, respecting 
the enjoyment of divine grace and participation 
of the Spirit. 

§ 28. How the catechumens were " taught," 
and what they were taught, to expect, is of no 
weio-ht further than as their instructions were 
scriptural. While human nature is ever liable 
to err, and the best of men are imperfect, to 
substitute a question of fact (were it well 
established) for a question of right, or to sub- 
stitute evidence for the one in the room of the 
other, is the direct road to a gulph of errors. 
The true question here is, not what the Fathers 



456 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



or the Church thought or what they taught, but 
what they ought to think and teach, according 
to the divinely appointed standard of Christian 
doctrine and practice? What church is there 
in the world, however corrupt, but pi^etends 
that its doctrines are founded either on the scrip- 
ture, or on apostolic tradition united to it? As 
to the supposition of the baptized being " con- 
scious " of receiving grace and the Spirit as the 
immediate effect of baptism, it would come with 
a very ill grace from any who are for ever de- 
claiming against modern enthusiasts. Ought 
they not rather to infer, that there were enthu* 
siasts in ancient times, than adopt the suppo- 
sition, as an example worthy of imitation? I 
admit that a subject cf real vital Christianity 
may be conscious of the effects of divine ope- 
ration in his own mind. He may be able to say 
from consciousness, as one did on another occa- 
sion, " whereas I was once blind I now see/' 
" He that believeth has the witness in himself*" 
" If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, 
old things are passed aw r a.y, behold all things 
are become new." He has new apprehensions, 
new judgments, a new mode of drawing con- 
clusions, a new method of regulating his thoughts, 
affections, and conduct, of all which he must be 
more or less " conscious " when he reflects. But 
why such effects should be supposed by the 
baptized to be produced by the baptismal rite, 



sect. iv. Quotations thai are Vnscfi plural. 457 

I have yet to learn. Have these baptized indi- 
viduals, or any in modern times testified this ? 
Or if they have, what credit is due to them? 
Suppose they say, that they have experienced 
peculiar delight, or were much animated in 
devotion and obedience after, immediately after, 
the ceremony of baptism ; is this any legitimate 
evidence of this ordinance having conveyed to 
them divine grace and the Holy Spirit? May 
not the same effect attend any other divine 
ordinance, as preaching, the holy supper, or 
private devotion ? In short, they who can im- 
bibe the sentiment of Chrysostom in the passage 
quoted, need only be placed in favourable cir- 
cumstances, in order to become as good enthu- 
siasts as any of their neighbours ; at least their 
principles will not retard the event. 

§ 29. Chrysostom advances another senti- 
ment which must not be overlooked; which is, 
that graces given have no crozvns. ' " Such is 
1 the nature of graces given, that they have no 
6 crowns, no rewards. For a gift is not the 
* merit of those who receive, but the liberality 
1 of him who gives." ' # So then, infants who 
are not, according to Jerome, born without 
Christ, and who according to Chrysostom, if 
baptized, have divine grace and the Holy Spirit, 



* Refut. p. 460. 



458 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v, 

must be cast into a limb us infant ium y for they 
can have no crowns of happiness, nor the re- 
ward of a Saviour's merits, in heaven, because 
they had not at death the merit of faith and 
good works to support them ! A professor, 
indeed, who pretends that he is a child of grace, 
who " boasts of a false gift," and is as " a cloud 
without water," or a tree having leaves without 
good fruit, has just cause to tremble at the 
judgment which awaits him, But how improper, 
not to say absurd, to advance the above quoted 
sentence as an oracular maxim ! Why may not 
persons be crowned for what they are, as well 
as for what they have clone? Surely he who 
has a renewed spirit and a cleansed heart, though 
he has not had an opportunity of shewing his 
fruit of good works, is a proper subject of a 
crown of glory from God the righteous judge, 

§ 30. Again, Chrysostom maintains that 
grace does not prevent our choice. 6 " For neither 
6 God, nor the grace of the Spirit, prevents our 
6 choice ; but it calls and waits, so that we go 
: of our own accord and willingly ; then after we 
1 have thus gone, it supplies all assistance from 
' itself." '* To the same purpose is a remark 
in Theodoret : ' " The God of the universe, as 
1 God, knows all things, at a distance ; he does 



* Hefut. p« 46<2, 



sect. iv. Quotations that are Unscriptural. 459 

* not however necessitate one man to practice 
' virtue, and another to work wickedness. For 
4 if he himself forced to either, he could not 
'justly applaud and crown the one, and decree 
' punishment against the other." ' * " God does 
not prevent our choice, — does not necessitate any 
one." Here we recognize something more than 
rational liberty, even a supposed power in the 
will to determine itself; a sentiment which I 
have repeatedly had occasion to notice, as incon- 
sistent with religion and the nature of things. 
It is observable how different were the senti- 
ments of the compilers of the English Common 
Prayer, from that which is here avowed by 
Chrysostom. There we fmd, in " a Prayer for 
the Clergy and People," these words : " Send 
doxvn upon our Bishops and Curates, and all 
Congregations committed to their charge, the 
healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that th^y may 
truly please thee, pour upon them the continual 
dew of thy blessing." And in " the second 
Collect at Evening Prayer " we read, " O God, 
from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, 
and all just woi^ks do proceed, &c." Also in " a 
Prayer for the King's Majesty," — " and so 
replenish him with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, 
that he may alway incline to thy will, and walk 
in thy way." In " a Prayer for the Royal 



* Refut. p. 506, 



460 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. r„ 



Family" the Minister and Congregation suppli- 
cate, saying, " endue them with thy Holy Spirit; 
enrich them with thy heavenly grace." And 
even in a prayer ascribed to Chrysostom him- 
self, it is said, " Almighty God, who hast green 
us grace at this time with one accord to make 
our common supplications unto thee." Surely 
he cannot mean to acknowledge merely the 
outward favour of assembling- together, which 
was common to the pious and the profane, to 
the sincere and the hypocrite. He must rather 
intend inward grace which is given to those who 
are true Christians, and which, by charitable 
construction, was ascribed to the Church as an 
assembly of Christian people, 

§ 51. As this point is of great moment, and 
is in a manner the very hinge on which his 
Lordship's controversy with the Calvinists turns. 
I shall produce a few more witnesses out of the 
Formularies of the English Church, which ought 
to have no small weight with its true members. 
The tenth Article seems to have been drawn up 
on purpose to oppose the notion of Chrysostom 
and Theodoret held out in the passages above 
cited. " We have no power to do good works 
pleasant and acceptable to God, without the 
grace of God, by Christ preventing us, thai we 
may have a good will, and working with us when 
we have that good will." In this Article we 



?t:ct. iv. Quotations that are Umcriptural. 46l 

are taught, in the plainest manner, that the 
grace of God " prevents our choice," in direct 
opposition to Chrysostom's assertion. It repre- 
sents the grace of God not only as " working 
with us when we have a good will," but also 
" prevents us, that we may have a good will." 
And this view of the Article immediately fol- 
lows from the statement given of " Original or 
Birth-sin" in the Ninth Article : " Original Sin 
standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the 
Pelagians do vainly talk,) hut it is the fault and 
corruption of the nature of every man, that 
naturally is ingendered of the offspring of Adam, 
whereby man is very far gone from original 
righteousness, and is of Ids own nature inclined 
to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary 
to the Spirit" If this be the real state of every 
man, what prospect is there of his recovery 
without preventing grace? That man has not 
any claim upon God for this assistance, is appa- 
rent from the very notion of its being grace ; 
and yet that man is bound in duty to seek this 
preventing grace, is evident from its being held 
forth to him as a matter of promise, which he 
may possess on terms prescribed. In these views 
there is no inconsistency* because our native 
corruption and impotence dissolves no obligation 
of dutiful compliance. The proper mode of 
considering the point, as a doctrine, is a poste- 
riori ; and the question to be decided is this ; 



462 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



Admitting the fact, that any man has a spiritual 
choice, to what is the goodness of that choice 
to be ascribed? Is it to preventing grace, or to 
a self-determining power in the will prior to 
such a grace? We conclude, and so does the 
English Church, that it is to be ascribed to 
Grace. 

§ 32. The words of Theodoret, that God 
" does not necessitate one man to practice vir- 
tue, and another to work wickedness," may be 
admitted in a compound sense ; but not in a 
divided sense. God does not "necessitate" any 
man to " work wickedness." Nor is there any 
necessitating force upon the will to practice 
virtue. But his remark, as a universal propo- 
sition, is subversive of an important theological 
truth, taught in the holy scriptures, and by the 
Church of England, its Offices and Articles. 
Without some kind of necessitation, there can 
be no certainty, or no certain gracious effect ; 
and yet this effect, as certain to follow, is every 
where implied in the Church - Prayers. Eor 
instance, in the prayer which relates to " those 
that are to be admitted to holy orders," God 
is petitioned " to guide and govern the minds of 
his servants the Bishops and Pastors of his flock, 
that they may lay hands suddenly on no man, 
but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit 
persons to serve in the sacred ministry," And 



sect, iv. Quotations that are Unscripiural. 463 

in the <c Prayer for all conditions of men," this 
is one petition : c f More especially we pray for 
the good estate of the Catholic Church ; that it 
may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, 
that all who profess and call themselves Chris- 
tians, may be led into the way of truth, and hold 
the faith in the unity of spirit, in the bond of 
of peace, and in righteousness of life." Again, 
in the Collect for " the first Sunday in Advent," 
this petition is included : " Almighty God, give 
us grace that we may cast away the works of 
darkness, and put upon us the armour of light." 
It would be easy to fill many pages with ex- 
tracts from the prayers, collects, &c. of the 
Established Church of the same tendency, in 
which " preventing grace" and a necessitating 
influence are clearly implied* 

§ 33. Is it not clearly implied, that if God 
is pleased to " guide and govern the minds of 
his servants," the certain effect will be their 
acting " faithfully and wisely." And if the 
Church catholic be " guided and governed 
by the good spirit of God" in some special 
manner, the certain effect will be truth, faith, 
and righteousness. Should it be said, the im- 
plication is, that then they " may," if they 
please, act faithfully and wisely, &c. ; this 
would render the petitions both superfluous and 
unmeaning. For are not men always at liberty, 



464 Modern Calvinism Defended. oei. t. 

if they please, to do every thing that is right 
and praiseworthy ? The design of asking for 
grace and the Holy Spirit, is to secure the 
event, to make what we desire certain; and 
consequently, that these divine aids may prove 
in us a necessitating cause of the event. If we 
have not such meaning in our prayers, when we 
ask for grace and the Holy Spirit, what mean- 
ing can we have? Are they any better than 
vain repetitions of words without a meaning? 
When we pray, " Lord have mercy upon us, 
and incline our hearts to keep this law," does it 
not imply, that if God be pleased to do this, 
we shall keep his law? When we supplicate the 
Almighty in these words, " Mortify and kill all 
vices in us; and so strengthen us by thy grace, 
that by the innocency of our lives, and constancy 
of our faith even unto death, we may glorify 
thy holy name," is it not implied, that the cer- 
tainty of the events depends on that grace which 
is desired? If any from this doctrine of the 
church and of the holy scriptures, wrongfully 
infer, that if grace necessitates in any sense, 
nothing is left for man to do, they know not 
" what they say, nor whereof they affirm." 7 They 
might urge, with equal propriety, because God 
necessitates our souls and faculties to exist, we 
have nothing to do with thinking, reasoning, 
fearing, or loving. Grace in the heart is a living 
principle, at the sovereign disposal of God, and 



sect. iv. Quotations that are Unscriptural. 465 

the exercise of this principle, when obtained, is 
as much our duty, as it is to consult the pre- 
servation of our lives and of our faculties. And 
as the existence of our lives and faculties neces- 
sitates thoughts and volitions of some kind ; so 
divine grace, existing as a principle in the soul, 
necessitates the goodness of our thoughts and 
volitions. But not so, exhibited grace, as an 
object of choice, which will be received or re- 
jected, improved or abused, according to the 
state of the mind. These important differences 
Chrysostom and Theodoret, and many others 
of the Christian Fathers, perpetually confound. 

§ 34. Though much more might have been 
said on the quotations from the Fathers, whoever 
has done me the honour to accompany me 
through the whole of this chapter will probably 
think it too long. Considering, however, that 
his Lordship's chapter on this head is much 
longer, that many pay undue deference to these 
writers, and that few English authors have 
introduced them except as authorities, I thought 
it might be of some service to the Christian 
cause to examine their opinions more minutely 
than otherwise would have been needful It 
would not be difficult to produce whole volumes 
of quotations from the ancient Fathers upon the 
plan adopted in the Refutation; but to read, 
mark, and translate, without any arrangement 



466 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v. 



of the subjects, would but little conduce, I ap- 
prehend, either to instruction or edification. By 
the classification of their sentiments contained 
in this examination, the reader has a tolerable 
specimen of what might be expected in a larger 
collection on controverted subjects. Valuable 
and edifying extracts, indeed, might be made 
from their writings, digested under proper heads; 
but for that purpose the translation should be- 
free, and their inconsistencies excluded. And 
even such a work, in proportion to the success 
of its accomplishment, might circulate too high 
an estimate of their general merit, and lead the 
injudicious to infer that they are really de- 
serving of all that indiscriminate respect which 
the ages of superstition have been disposed to 
confer upon them. 



Chap. VI. 



AN ENQUIRY INTO THE GROUNDS OF THE INCON- 
SISTENCIES APPARENT IN THE BISHOP'S AVOWED 
SENTIMENTS, AND IN HIS QUOTATIONS FROM THE 
FATHERS. 

Sect. I. 

The misapplication of Terms which are equivocal in their 
meaning. 

^ 1. Inconsistencies in the " Refutation,,'' from a misapplication of 
the Terms power, ability, being enabled, &c. § 2, 3. Exempli- 
fied in his Lordship's account of Cain and Abel ; and § 4. In hid 
account of the Sin of Adam and the Merits of Christ. 

^ 5. The misapplication of cause for occasion. § 6. Of Salvation 
for the Means of Salvation. § 7, 8. Of being elected to means, 
for being elected to happiness. 

^ 9 — 11. Inconsistencies arising from the misapplication of the terms 
denial, prcterition, and reprobation. 
12. Observations on equivocal and undefined Terms in controversy. 

§ 1. I think it lias been fully shewn, in 
the preceding parts of this volume, that there 
are many inconsistencies in the Bishop's own 
avowed sentiments, as well as in the quotations 
he has produced from the Fathers. A scheme 
of thoughts may be, at least in a considerable 
measure, consistent with itself, without being 
consistent with the true standard, God's revealed 
will : but when a systematic view of doctrines 
fails in self-inconsistency? it must be wrong in 



468 Mod ern Calvinism Defended. ch. ti. 

some of its parts. Such a failure may be owing 
to several causes; and, after an attentive exa- 
mination of his Lordship's book, it appears to 
me that one of these causes is the misapplica- 
tion of terms which are equivocal in their 
meaning. This appears in the frequent employ- 
ment of the term power — ability — being enabled, 
Sec. It being a plain case that without these, 
in one sense, man could not be the subject of 
divine law, or be responsible for his actions, 
though destitute of them in another sense, his 
Lordship often argues from the one to the 
other. 

§ 2. When speaking of Cain and Abel, and 
God's address to the former, his Lordship says, 
€ May we not hence infer, that the immediate 
' sons of Adam lived under a divine law, which 
i they had the power of obeying and disobeying?'* 
They had no doubt a physical ' power,' a good 
rule, a merciful promise, and favourable oppor- 
tunities; these were common to Cain and Abel; 
but had they alike that £ power ' which consists 
in " a good inclination," or " a good and honest 
heart?" If each had this ' power,' then is not 
" every man of his own nature inclined to evil/' 
a point which his Lordship acknowledges. He 
allows, too, that ' a sincere disposition to obey the 



* Refut. p. 5. 



sect. i. Misapplication of Terms. 469 

4 divine will was all that was necessary, to enable 
1 a person to judge whether the doctrine preached 

* by Christ was the invention of man or a reve- 

* lation from God.'* Consequently, the Scribes, 
and Pharisees, and Rulers, who rejected Christ's 
doctrine, notwithstanding they had 4 a practicable 

* rule/ a plain testimony, convincing miracles, and 
favourable opportunities 4 to obey the divine 

* will,' were not 4 enabled 1 to obey it, even in his 
Lordship's own sense of the term. 

§ 3. His Lordship asserts, that Cain had 

* the power of obeying/ — and yet he states, that 
£ a man cannot, by his own natural faculties and 
4 unassisted exertions, so counteract and correct 
4 the imperfection and corruption derived from 
4 the fall of Adam, as to be able of himself to 
1 acquire that true and lively faith which would 
4 secure salvation. 'f What is become, then, of 
Cain's 4 power?' It is resolved into divine 
assistance. But if he was divinely assisted, 
where is the evidence of the fact? And if 
divine assistance does not secure 4 a sincere 
4 disposition to obey the divine will/ why should 
man pray for that assistance, as his Lordship 
recommends, that he may be obedient ? If Cain 
had divine assistance, which 4 enabled ' him to 
obey, and yet did not obey, of what use is it to 



* Refut. p. m 



+ lb. p. 53. 



470 



Modern Calvinism Defended. cii. vi.- 



pray for that which produces no effect? And if 
he had not effectual assistance, in what sense 
had he ' power,' or - was enabled to obey/ 
except in another sense of power, which annihi- 
lates his Lordship's argument? 

§ 4. Again, when speaking of the sin of 
Adam and the merits of Christ as co-extensive, 
his Lordship observes, ' the force of the argu- 
< ment is destroyed, and the most acknowledged 
' rules of language are violated, by so interpret- 
c ing this passage, as to contend, that all men 
c are liable to punishment on account of the sin 
1 of Adam, and that a few only are enabled to 
( avoid that punishment through the death of 
c Christ,'* Here the word 'enabled' is con- 
founded with having objective or moral means 
of avoiding punishment through the death of 
Christ. Taking the word in this sense, which 
his argument requires, how could his Lordship 
consistently oppose even Calvin himself, who 
admitted that every man to whom the gospel is 
presented is ' enabled,' in this acceptation of the 
term, to avoid punishment, through the death 
of Christ. His Lordship's quotation from 
the reformer proves this: God indeed affirms, 
( that he wills the conversion of all men; and 
* he destines his exhortations in common to all ; 



*Rfcfut. p. 190. 



afcc r. i. 31 is application of Terms. 471 

' their efficacy, however, depends upon the spirit 
' of regeneration.'"* The means, as such, are 
sufficient, and such as becomes a moral governor 
to afford ; but the other kind of ability, which 
consists in ' a sincere disposition to obey,' pro- 
ceeds from the sovereign grace of God, whereby 
they are, properly speaking, £ enabled ' to obey. 

§ 5. Sometimes the word cause is confounded 
with occasion, and an argument is drawn from 
the equivocal use of the first of these terms, 
Thus, for example, in the following passage ; 
( Can we then suppose that God sees his 
1 rational creatures not only in need, but ob- 
( noxious to death and misery, and yet refuses 
6 his aid to rescue them from impending ruin ? 
1 The gospel, instead of being a proof of God's 
£ ' good will towards men/ would rather shew 
6 his determination, that they should add to 
' their guilt, and increase their condemnation. 
' Instead of raising us from a death in sin to a 
' life of righteousness, it would be the inevitable 
' cause of more heinous wickedness, and of sorer 
* punishment, to the greater part of mankind.'! 
His Lordship must allow, on the most indubita- 
ble evidence of plain facts, that the gospel does 
not raise from a death in sin to a life of righte- 
ousness 6 the greater part ' even of those who 



* Refill, p. 536. + lb. p. 196, 



47^ Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



read and hear it. With what consistency then 
can he say, that God ' refuses his aid ' to those 
who are not raised from a life of sin to a life of 
righteousness by its aid ? If the gospel ' would 
* be the cause of more heinous wickedness, and a 
' sorer punishment/ because it does not so 'raise' 
them, then on his own principle, it is such a 
cause. But, how can a proclamation of mercy 
be a 6 cause ' of wickedness and punishment ? 
Surely on no scheme can it be more than the 
occasion of these consequences. The gospel, 
like its divine author, is " a stone of stumbling 
and a rock of offence " to the wicked : but to 
them who are well disposed, it is precious. To 
the one, it is " a savour of death unto death," 
to the other, " a savour of life unto life." In 
short, in whatever sense we understand the 
word 1 cause ' in his Lordship's argument, with- 
out changing its import, it turns against himself. 

§ 6. The idea of salvation, again, is often 
confounded with the means of salvation, espe- 
cially when connected with election, and a 
conclusion is drawn from the one to the other, 
which has no force except from an assumed 
equivocal use of the terms, thus rendering his 
Lordship's argument incompatible with his pro- 
fessed sentiments. Thus he states and infers : 
1 At the close of his first epistle, St. Peter 
i says, * The church that is at Babylon, elected 



sect. I. Misapplication of Terms. 4J3 

* together with you here the apostle calls the 
s whole church of Babylon also elect, which 
1 again proves that the word is applied generally 
i to collective bodies of Christians, to all xvho in 

* one or more cities or countries professed Chris- 

* tiamty, without any discrimination; and that it 
4 is not confined to individuals who must neces- 
' sarily be saved, or who were predestinated by 

* God to certain salvation; or even to those 
' who will actually be saved' # What is this 
but saying, that to be ' elected ' to the means 
of salvation, is not to be predestinated to certain 
salvation itself? We all know that to be 4 elected* 
to the participation of the means of happiness, is 
not the same thing as to be £ elected ' to happi- 
ness. In the former sense, ( collective bodies/ 
even ' all who profess Christianity without any 

discrimination' may be ' elected,' and yet the 
greater part of them, through their own fault, 
not saved. Now, his Lordship's own account 
of election is, that the actual enjoyment of the 
means of salvation, consisting in 4 Christianity 
'professed,' constitutes the persons f elected;' 
and therefore with what consistency can he 
urge, that • those who will actually be saved? 
are not in another, that is, the Calvinistic sense, 

* elected?' If the fact of superior means and 
privileges imply election^ as he allows, how can 



* Refut. p. 205. 



474 Mode'rit Calvinism Defended. cn,rt, 

he consistently oppose the Calvinists, who say, 
that those who are in fact saved, are 6 elected • 
to that salvation? Divest the terms of their 
ambiguity, and the case will appear plain; 
collective bodies, because they are favoured 
with the means of salvation, are ' elected' to 
those means, and individuals, because they are 
favoured with salvation itself in heaven, are 
s elected' to that salvation. For his Lordship 
to oppose this, is to buffet himself. 

§ 7. Of the same complexion is the follow- 
ing passage : i St. Paul says to Timothy, * I 

* endure all things for the elect's sake, that 
c they may also obtain salvation/ &c. — This 
' is perfectly consistent with the idea of the 
e elect being Christian converts in general, who 
' might or might not be saved, but cannot be 
c reconciled with the Calvinistic notion, that 
' the elect are persons infallibly destined to 
4 salvation.'* His Lordship allows that 1 Chris- 

* tian converts in general' are 6 elected 7 that 
they may obtain the means of salvation, and we 
allow the same; but then this is by no means 
inconsistent with some of these converts being 
€ elected' to still higher blessings. And if it 
were inconsistent for St. Paul to " endure all 
things for the elect's sake " in the latter sense, 



* Refut. p. 212. 



sect. I. Misapplication of Terms. 47<5 

was it not equally so in his Lordship's accepta- 
tion? The Calvinists may turn his argument 
upon himself ; of what use was it for Paul to 
travel from country to country and suffer all 
things for the sake of ' Christian converts in 
general,' seeing they were elected to become 
such in the purpose of God, and included in the 
plan of his providence ? If they were <( chosen" 
to become such in the divine purpose, why 
should St. Paul endure so many hardships to 
secure what was already fixed? In this case, 
also, while his Lordship argues against the 
Calvinists, he is equally the opponent of himself. 

§ 8. A similar confusion of terms occurs in 
the use of the words denial, pretention, and 
reprobation. ' If God of his own good pleasure 
£ elected certain persons exclusively to be eter- 
' nally happy, by furnishing them, through his 
' especial grace, with his own appointed means 
1 of faith in the death of Christ, it is implied, 
( that those means are denied to the rest of the 
1 human race, who are passed over, and left to 
' their own unassisted power. This denial or 
' pretention is in fact reprobation; for both 

* Calvinists and ourselves believe, that ' man 

* by his own natural strength and good works 
1 cannot turn to faith,' the only appointed mean 
- of salvation ; and that 1 the fault and corrup- 

* tion of every man that is naturally engendered 



476 Modern Calvinism Defended. f n. Ti+ 



* of Adam, deserveth God's wrath and damna* 

* tion, which he is of himself unable to avert."** 
Here we are taught that ^ denial,' ' pre teri tion/ 
and 4 reprobation/ are synonymous ; and that 
the election of some to certain privileges, implies 
that these privileges 6 are denied to the rest of 

* the human race, who are passed over and left 

* to their own unassisted power.' His Lordship 
is here condemned on his own shewing. He 
allows that all professing Christians are 'elected;' 
consequent!} 7 , those who are not professing 
Christians, to whom the means of salvation 
were never sent, are ' denied' these means; that 
is, all who are not elected, in his own sense of 
the term, are the objects of c denial,' of 6 prete- 

* rition,' and of 6 reprobation,' — and these are by 
far c the greater part ' of the human race. 

§ 10. From his Lordship's distinct confession, 
he, no less than the Calvinists, believes that 
man by his own strength c cannot' turn to the 
appointed mean of salvation — yea, deserveth 
God's wrath, which he is of himself unable to 
avert. Of course, then, those millions of the 
human race who are not c elected ' to the means 
of salvation, are, according to his own scheme, 
denied, passed over, left, reprobated. If Elec- 
tion and Reprobation are inseparable, or neces- 



* Refut p. 265. 



sect. i. Misapplication of Terms. 477 

sarily imply each other, as taught by Calvin 
and his Lordship, wherein consists the dif- 
ference between the reformer and the digni- 
tary? Truly in this, that the former regards 
a number of mankind individually, and the 
latter a number of them collectively, repro- 
bated- The one parcels out his numbers in 
retail, the other disposes - : of them in the 
gross. Which of these ideas is the most revolt- 
ing, as implying ' denial/ it is difficult to say, 
In this volume, at any rate, no such doctrine 
is held. 

§ 11. All mankind are chosen to enjoy 
some benefits; a part of them are elected, as 
nations who enjoy the gospel, to superior 
benefits; Christian congregations to whom 
the gospel is faithfully preached, and the ordi- 
nances of Christ are duly administered, are 
elected in a still higher sense; while those 
individuals among them who have a sincere 
disposition, and a lively faith, to whom it is 
given on the behalf of Christ, not only to 
believe, but also to suffer for his name — those 
who have preventing and confirming grace, who 
arc kept by the power of God through faith 
unto salvation — are elected to blessings so 
great that " eye hath not seen nor ear heard, 
nor has it entered into the heart of man' to 
conceive their greatness and excellence. But 



478 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



while we hold election in different senses or. 
degrees, we disavow the idea of e denial ' in the 
active sense. We maintain no £ reprobation' 
except what belongs to those of mankind who 
are finally (atioxtpoi) disapproved, in the scrip- 
tural sense of this term. By hastily adopting 
the Hyper-Calvinistic idea of Election and Re- 
probation as inseparable, though the 17th Article 
wisely disjoins them, his Lordship exhibits ano- 
ther display of that species of warfare, in which 
he seems so peculiarly to excel. 

§ 12. The attentive reader of the " Refuta- 
tion' may perceive many other terms, especially 
in the quotations from the Fathers, which are 
used in an equivocal sense, where the reasoning- 
is fallacious, and inconsistent with sentiments 
avowed by themselves. For instance, they fre- 
quently confound necessity and force, cause 
and occasion, freedom and power, grace, in the 
objective, and in the subjective sense, election 
in a connected, and in an unconnected sense, 
&c. While men consider themselves privileged 
to use equivocal terms in an undefined sense, — 
instead of candid controversy, for the purpose 
of investigating and ascertaining truth, its legi- 
timate end, their contest will invariably dege- 
nerate into unprofitable and irritating logo- 
machy. Were theologians and writers on moral 
science to imitate the laudable example of mathe- 



sect. I. Misapplication of Terms. 479 

maticians and judicious writers on natural philo- 
sophy, by fixing either univocal or defined terms 
to specific ideas, their lucubrations would be far 
more honourable to themselves and useful to the 
public. 



480 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. vi. 



Sect. II. 

Assumed Principles of Moral Obligation. 

'§ !. The " Refutation 1 ' assumes that something more than physical 
powers* moral means, and Freedom, is requisite to constitute 
Moral Obligation. § 2. This assumption exemplified in a variety 
of quoted phrases. § 3. To suppose that internal grace is essential 
to moral Obligation is subversive of the idea of Moral Government. 

§ 4. The Cc Refutation" assumes that the Liberty of Moral Agents is a 
physical Power. — The fallacy exposed. § 5. That the efficacy of 
moral means does not essentially depend on a previous disposition, 
—This proved an inconsistency. § 6. That an influence followed 
with a certainty of result in moral actions is incompatible with 
freedom. — The assumption disapproved. § 7. That if the event be 
certain, means are superfluous. — This proved to be erroneous. 

% 8. The true notion of Moral Obligation should be sought from the 
Essential Characters of God and the creature ; and ^ 9. From the 
Relation subsisting between the Governor and the governed* 

§ 10. The Importance of correct views of Moral Obligation. 

§ I. Another ground of inconsistency 
with truth and with themselves in the Bishop 
and the Fathers quoted by him, is the assump- 
tion of certain principles of Moral Obligation, 
which are demonstrably unfounded. One of 
these is, that something more than physical 
powers (or faculties), moral means, and freedom, 
is requisite to constitute obligation, in a moral 
sense. By " physical powers" I mean, intellect 
and will, (an intellect to represent an object, a 
will to choose it,) and a capability of enjoying 
the chief good, — which is that excellency of our 
nature by which we are essentially distinguished 



sect. ii. Assumed Principles of Obligation, 481 

from the brute creation, and by which we are 
physically capacitated to enjoy happiness in 
God. By "moral means" I understand objec- 
tive inducements, or considerations presented to 
our physical powers. And by " freedom " I 
mean exemption from constraint to evil, and 
restraint from good, in our elections. Beside 
these requisites, however, the advocates for self- 
determination of the will, imagine that some 
occult quality,™ an undefined and undefinable 
something behind the scene, which, however, 
they denominate active power, &c, but of which 
they do not profess to form any precise idea — ■ 
is needful to constitute moral obligation, or to 
render us accountable agents. 

§ 2. Thus his Lordship often asserts that 
man has 6 the power of obeying,' is * capable of 
'obeying;' that 6 God gives to every man — a 
' power to perform the conditions of the gospel ;' 
that 6 to deny this power to any individual, would 
' be inconsistent with the attributes of God.' 
Sometimes this power is termed ' baptismal 
6 grace,' and sometimes we are told, 6 that every 
i man is enabled to attain salvation through the 
'merits of Christ;' that ' who were to par- 
'* take of Adam's corrupt nature were to partake 
1 also of the appointed remedy ;' that the second 
Adam 6 restored ail to life, that- c the Jews had 
6 a power of understanding and believing;' that 

2 i 



482 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



6 it is in the power of every one to attain eternal 
c happiness ; ' that * God has £ enabled every man 

* born into the world, to work out his own sal- 
6 ration ; ' that Christ died c to enable every 
6 individual descendant of Adam to obtain 
' eternal happiness;' that c if mankind had not 
e the power, by free-will, to avoid what is dis* 
' graceful, and to choose what is good, they 
' would not be responsible for their actions/ 
Asfain, God determined to make men and 
angels ' with full pozcer to act justly.' God 
created angels and nten 6 to do whatever he 
4 gave them strength to be able to do.' ' We 
( have produced wickedness ; but those who 
4 have produced it, have it in their power again 
e to renounce it' Man has 6 power over him- 
4 self.' Men ' will receive the just judgment of 
■ God, because they have not worked good 
e when they had it in their power to work it.' 

* Man is in his own power with respect to faith — 
'in his own free-will and power.' The wicked 
Jews were c able to act justly.' c Neither praise 
6 nor dispraise, nor honours, nor punishments, 
' would be just, if the soul had not the power of 
' desiring or rejecting.' God has given us a 
6 free sovereign power,' 6 That thing is in our 

* own power, of which we are equally masters, as 
' of its opposite.' 6 God pardons what is past, 
' but every one has the future in his own power. 9 
€ Every one has the power of choosing good, and 



sect. ii 4 Assumed Principles of Obligation^ 483 

< of choosing evil.' * When he o-ives other com- 

* mandments, he shews that it is in our power to 
6 keep them.' ' It is the will of God that man 
( should ohey the understanding, and he has 

* received power to subject himself* Sometimes, 
again, this inward power is expressed in very 
different language. c No one is born without 
' Christ i and no one is born c without having 
£ in himself the seeds of wisdom, and of justice, 
s and of the other virtues.' ' What would be 
' more unjust, than that those should be punished, 

* who are not able to do what ought to be done?' 

* Grace is poured upon all, excepting neither Jew 
nor Greek — nor old nor young ; but coming to 

' all equally.' 

§ 3. These passages, and many more of the 
same tendeney, are evidently designed to shew, 
that mankind possess a £ power ' or £ strength ' 
which is the ground of responsibility. If the 
meaning be, that man has physical powers, moral 
means, and freedom ; why are they produced 
against Calvinists, who admit this in the fullest 
extent? But if something more be intended, as 
is probably the case in several expressions and 
phrases, what is it? If it admit of no descrip- 
tion or explanation, may not its existence readily 
be doubted? Is it baptismal grace? Then but 
a small part are under moral obligation ! Is it 
a portion of the grace of Christ, afforded to 



484 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. v?, 

every child of Adam ? Two considerations offer 
themselves against the doctrine : first, it wants 
evidence to support it ; and, secondly, the sup- 
position that internal grace is a requisite ground 
of moral obligation, is subversive of the very 
nature of moral government. Even supposing 
that every descendant of Adam has, from his 
birth, a portion of the grace of Christ, this 
would not alter the case. As the very notion 
of moral government implies a possible deviation 
from rectitude and a loss of the divine favour; 
if the ground of the obligation did not continue 
unalterably the same, through all vicissitudes 
and bereavements, the greater the moral impo- 
tence, in other words the depravity of the sub- 
ject, the more free from obligation ! If this be 
not utterly subversive of moral government, it 
is difficult to say what is. On this principle, 
our first father Adam, by his delinquency, must 
have removed himself from obligation to the 
Supreme Governor, because destitute of an 
essential requisite : and, for the same reason, 
the fallen angels are under no obligation to 
love their Maker, but must have removed them- 
selves from his government, and have ^ ground 
of accusation against him, because his claims 
continue, and yet they have no inward grace, 
as a requisite of moral obligation. 

§ 4. Another ground of inconsistency, and 



sect. ii. Assumed Principles of Obligation. 485 

of much confusion, is the notion, that the 
Liberty which is essential to moral obligation, 
is a physical power. It is more than probable, 
that this idea was affixed to several of the words 
and phrases above quoted. Without doubt, how- 
ever, this is a very common idea with the 
advocates of a self- determining power. The 
word 1 Liberty' and the epithet 4 free' prefixed 
to ■ will,' being positive terms, by the use of 
which the mind is too apt to be influenced in 
forming ideas ; we are in danger of being be- 
trayed into the notion that some positive idea 
is intended to be conveyed by them, and there- 
fore that they express some physical power. 
But if we substitute negative terms conveying 
the very same ideas, the fallacy may be more 
easily detected. What is free-will, but unre- 
strained, unconstrained, unbound, or unforced 
will? Whatever terms are employed to express 
it, the idea is decidedly negative, as denoting a 
denial or exemption. Who can describe, who 
can conceive any thing more as implied in the 
idea of liberty or freedom ? The will indeed is 
a physical faculty by which power is exerted, 
but its freedom is a negation of all foreign inter- 
ference in its exercise. 

§ 5. As another ground of embarrassment, in 
reference to moral obligation, we may notice 



486 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. xu 



the supposition, that the efficacy of moral 
means does not essentially depend on a pre> 
vious disposition of the heart. Moral means 
are objective considerations presented to the 
mind, in the way of persuasion or dissuasion ; 
and the effect as either good or bad, in a moral 
sense, will be according to the manner in which 
the free-will stands affected towards them. The 
same moral means affect different free volitions 
in a manner directly opposite ; but this could 
not take place without some essential difference 
in the persons themselves. The will in both 
cases is equally free, and as a faculty it uniformly 
seeks apparent good. Consequently if there 
were not some principle in the mind more 
radical than free-will, moral means would affect 
every mind in the same manner. Now what 
can this principle be but the disposition of the 
heart, as either good or bad, light or dark, 
according to which the moral means appear 
either eligible or ineligible ? A depraved state 
of mind sees nothing practically eligible in a 
holy life, though the person has no convincing 
argument against it; nay, though many argu- 
ments in its favour may be confessed by him to 
be unanswerable. On the other hand, a vir- 
tuous or gracious state of mind, styled in scrip- 
ture " a good and honest heart," sees a holy 
life practically eligible ; and the free-will chooses 



sect.it. Assumed Principles of Obligation. 487 

accordingly. In both cases, the moral obligation 
is the same, though the results are diametrically 
opposite. 

§ 6. Nearly similar to this is another per- 
plexing prejudice, that an influence, or an 
efficiency, securing the certain result of moral 
actions, is incompatible with liberty: but this 
prejudice is occasioned by mistaken apprehen- 
sions of the true nature of liberty. A principle 
of grace, ameliorating and enlightening the 
mind, has no more tendency to diminish free- 
dom, than had the spotless purity and superior 
unction of Jesus Christ to diminish his liberty. 
It was in consequence of confused notions of 
liberty, and its incompatibility with preventing 
grace, that some of the Fathers, (when duty was 
out of the question) advanced this crude sen- 
timent, — that the beginning must be from 
ourselves. If indeed they had confined this 
notion to the obligation of beginning from our- 
selves, it might well be admitted ; for a defect 
of principle, as before shewn, does not alter 
the ground of obligation. A depraved descen- 
dant of Adam is as much obliged to love God, 
and to live in^ righteousness and true holiness, 
as Adam himself was in a state of integrity. 
The reason is, that both alike have the same 
ground of moral obligation — physical powers, 
poral means, and freedom. Take away any one 



488 Modern Calvinism Defended. en. vi. 

of these, and moral obligation eeases ; but while 
these continue, the obligation remains unim- 
paired. The design of divine influence, there- 
fore, is not to weaken, or in any way to alter 
the obligation, but to • enable ' the subject to 
discharge it. 

§ 7. Another prejudice that pervades the 
" Refutation " is, that if the event be certain, 
exhortations and other moral means are super- 
fluous. One might think that the whole systein 
of prophecy is a sufficient exposure of this false 
notion. If prophetic events were not certain, 
how could they be certainly predicted ? and yet 
we find that they are constantly accomplished 
by the use of moral means. . In fact, these 
means are an essential requisite for moral deter- 
minations. If the law or the gospel were not 
made known to free agents, how could they 
love or hate them, and how could prophecies 
of these results be certainly accomplished ? 
God foreknows not only the free-will of the 
agent, but also the principle according to which 
he will view moral means • and therefore what 
will be his determinations in given circum- 
stances, with infinite precision. He knows 
what a free -agent left to his own principle, 
will do or will not do; and what the same or 
another agent, still equally free, when endowed 
with another principle in different degrees, 



sect. ii. Assumed Principles of Obligation. 489 

according to divinely wise and sovereign plea- 
sure, will determine, or will not determine. If 
the depraved were not exhorted, how could a 
non-compliance be foretold? And if the better 
principled were not exhorted, how could their 
compliance be recorded as futurely "certain ? 

§ 8. Having noticed some of the false grounds 
of moral obligation, it may be proper to subjoin 
a few remarks on its nature. In order to ascer- 
tain this, it is in vain that we look to what 
mankind actually do, or to observe the ope- 
rations of the human mind, on the plan of 
inductive philosophy. On the present subject, 
to know by the most accurate observation the 
matter of fact, will never teach us the matter 
of right. From what is done by a free agent, 
we cannot infer what ought to be done. We 
must therefore have recourse to the essential 
characters of God and man respectively, and the 
consequent subsisting relations. Through the 
medium of divine revelation, which fully ap- 
proves itself to right reason, we learn, that God 
is the only independent and self-sufficient being 
— that he is the objective chief good — holy in 
liis nature — equitable in his proceedings — and 
sovereignly beneficent. The essential character 
of -man, as a subject of moral government, is, 
that he is absolutely dependent upon Gcd — is 
possessed of intellect, will, and freedom—and 
is capable of enjoying the chief good. 



490 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. wn 



§ 9- Hence we see the relation subsisting 
between the Governor and the governed. There 
can be no happiness but in harmony with his 
will, which is ever conformable to the absolute 
rectitude of his nature. A voluntary harmony 
with his will, is real virtue ; and the want of it, 
in moral agents, is real vice. A moral agent 
who, in his determinations, opposes God's holy 
will, at the same time opposes his holy nature. 
Now, to suppose that a voluntary determination 
of the agent, in contrariety to the will and nature 
of the governor, is not opposed by equity, wquld 
be a contradiction ; would be to suppose God 
to be adverse to evil, and yet not adverse to it : 
to be unchangeable in his aversion to what is 
wrong, and yet changeable. Hence to be 
opposed by equity, is to be obliged to endure 
the consequence of not enjoying the chief good; 
and when a capacity for happiness is not grati- 
fied, the necessary effect is misery. Conse- 
quently, he that will not be virtuous, must be, is, 
obliged to be miserable, from the nature of things, 
that is, from the nature of the Governor and the 
governed. 

§ 10. Were this point properly considered, 
we should have fewer controversies about ori- 
ginal sin, free-will, divine operations on the 
mind, faith, good works, the nature and extent 
of the price of redemption, election and pre- 
destination to life. We should also perceive 



sect.it. Assumed Principles of Obligation, 491 

the fallacy of some inferences drawn from the 
doctrines of sovereign Grace by its friends, and 
triumphantly echoed by its foes. Had the 
Fathers and the Schoolmen been better ac-- 
quainted with moral obligation, and the true 
principles of moral science, they would never 
have given us so many fanciful interpretations 
of scripture, nor have been so frequently incon- 
sistent with themselves. 



Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. vi. 



Sect. III. 



Erroneous views respecting the Divine Prerogative. 

\ 1. That God is absolutely supreme, and his will in some respects 
arbitrary, is universally acknowledged. § 2. But not arbitrary 
in judgments and punishments. § 3. What implied in the Prero- 
gative of Sovereignty. § 4. Evidence of its exercise toward 
mankind, from the revealed fact of Salvation provided. § 5. 
From the proclamation of mercy. § 6. From awful sanctions 
proving ineffectual; and § 7. From the joint considerations of 
human imbecility and the effects produced on some minds, § 8. 
Others have no ground of complaint. § 9, 10. God, in the exer- 
cise of Sovereign Prerogative, is no respecter of persons. §11. 
Man has great need of its exercise. § 12. Its exercise is inju- 
rious to none. 



and instances he is sovereign, that is, arbitrary, 
must be also allowed by every reflecting person. 
To what else can be ascribed the existence of 
the created universe, and the differences of 
material beings of which it is composed? What 
a sovereign variety is discoverable in the mi- 
neral, the vegetable, and the animal world ! 
How various their natures, their properties, and 
their designed ends ! These things are generally 
confessed, as they do not immediately affect the 
principles of morality and religion. But no 
sooner do we extend the sovereign prerogative 
to the human mind, than the trumpet of alarm 
is loudly sounded, as if some great injury to 
man were the necessary consequence. These 




&ecx. ni. False Views of the Divine Prerogative. 493 

fears, however, are utterly groundless ; we need 
only understand the subject, in order to restore 
our tranquillity, provided our tempers and dis- 
positions ate not depraved. We shall then not 
only acquiesce with submission, but also adore 
with gratitude. 

§ 2. It is inconsistent with the divine per- 
fections to suppose that God acts arbitrarily 
towards his creatures, except in the communi- 
cation of good. The very notion of judgments 
or punishments, implies that they are deserved 
by those on whom they are inflicted : and even 
the manner of the infliction is not, properly 
speaking, arbitrary, except when there is a 
favourable deviation from the rigid claims of 
justice. Though mankind are sometimes af- 
flicted with the sword, pestilence, or famine, 
still they might say with truth, " It is of the 
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed " to a 
greater degree, and in a more dreadful manner. 
Justice in every manifestation of it is indeed 
supreme, as is every attribute of the Deity, but 
never arbitrary. Had Calvin duly reflected on 
this fundamental principle, he would not have 
disfigured his admirable pages with a reprobat- 
ing decree ; nor would many other valuable 
writers have attempted to soften the sentiment 
by the self-contradictory notion of a decree to 
permit moral evil 



494 



Modern Calvinism De tended. 



CH. VI, 



§ 3. The divine prerogative of sovereignty 
which is here asserted, is that of communicating 
good of any kind, in any degree, and in whatever 
manner God pleases. Hence we find, that 
different persons have not only a greater portion 
of corporeal beauty and strength, but also a 
greater degree of mental capacity than others. 
And in this respect the words of the Apostle 
are apposite ; " Who maketh thee to differ from 
another; and what hast thou that thou didst 
not receive ? Now if thou didst receive it, why 
dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received 
it?"* Whatever mental quality differs from 
another for the better, is from the sovereign 
pleasure of God, who worketh all such things 
according to the infinitely wise counsel of his 
will. It was this sovereign pleasure that formed 
all the laws of the universe, and has given to 
to all intelligent creatures an accountable 
existence. 

§ 4. It enters into the essential nature of 
accountability, that the subject of it is, in his 
own nature, liable to transgress. And we all 
are constrained to acknowlege it, as an awful 
and alarming fact, that all mankind are trans- 
gressors, whereby they are adverse to the holi- 
ness and justice of the supreme Governor, and 



* 1 Cor. iv. 7. 



sect. in. False Views of the Divine Prerogalke. 495 

whereby, as a necessary consequence, the same 
glorious attributes are adverse to them, in the 
same degree. From the divine prescience no 
future state of man, or any individual event was 
concealed. Hence the exercise of the divine 
sovereignty in a plan of mercy. All mankind, 
if left to feel the just demerit of sin, must have 
continued in guilt and misery. But now, in 
virtue of an atoning substitute in our nature, 
provided by sovereign mercy, a ministry of 
reconciliation is established. A proclamation is 
gone forth, " Deliver him from going down to 
the pit, I have found a ransom." The gospel 
of the kingdom was ordered to be published 
among all nations, and to be proposed to every 
human creature capable of attending to it 

§ 5. Now let us enquire, Who believes the 
report? The natural man understandeth not 
the things that are spiritual, nor can he know 
them, because, in order that they may savingly 
profit, they must be spiritually discerned. 
Millions turn a deaf ear to the call of wisdom, 
though they cannot object to the plan, without 
at the same time displaying their folly. a Wis- 
dom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in 
the streets; she crieth in the chief place of 
concourse, in the openings of the gates ; in the 
city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, 
ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity ? and the 



496 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi„ 

scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate 
knowledge ? Turn you at my reproof ; behold 
I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make 
known my words unto you." # This is the 
language of merciful wisdom to the human race i 
and shews the compassion of God towards the 
ignorant and wicked ; the obligations of men to 
turn to God by submission and repentance ; and, 
a gracious promise annexed, which would be 
fulfilled upon their compliance. 

§ 6. As the promise of divine favours is 
proposed to men on an equitable condition, tl;e * 
alternative of refusal is accompanied with an 
awful threatening. " Because I have called, and 
ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and 
no man regarded ; but ye have set at nought all 
my counsel, and would none of my reproof ; 
I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock 
when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh 
as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a 
whirlwind ; when distress and anguish cometh 
upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but 
I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but 
they shall not find me : for that they have hated 
knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the 
Lord. They w^ould none of my counsel, they 
despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they 



.* Prov. i. 20—23. 



sect. ill. False Views of the Divine Prerogative. 497 

cat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled 
with their own devices. For the turning away 
of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity 
of fools shall destroy them. But whoso heark- 
eneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet 
from fear of evil."* In this awful passage of 
God's holy word, we observe these particulars : 
First, that the persons addressed, however 
wicked, must possess all the requisites of moral 
obligation : Secondly, that a refusal of what is 
in itself so reasonable, deserves the severest 
punishment: Thirdly, that the nature of this 
punishment is the righteous opposition of God 
to their wickedness, that they eat the fruit of 
their own way, and are filled with their own 
devices : Fourthly, that there is a period be 
yond which God will not wait to be gracious. 
Slighted mercy to the end of life, leaves the 
wicked in fear, distress and anguish. 

§ 7. The question again returns, Who be- 
lieves the report ? The answer is, They to whom 
" the arm of the Lord is revealed." They who 
are made " willing in the day of his power.'' 
They into whose hearts a divine light shines, that 
they may be enabled to recognize the voice and 
design of divine wisdom. All men to whom the 
call and the warning are addressed ought to 
submit and obey, but all yield obedience and 

* Prov. i, 24—33. 



498 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 

submission. On what rational or scriptural 
principle can we found the difference of result ? 
If we renounce the divine prerogative of shewing 
additional mercy to some, of taking away the 
heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh, of 
putting his fear in their hearts, and of open- 
ing them by his gracious influence to receive 
the truth, — are we not chargeable, at the same 
time, with an attempt to contract the exercise, 
of his beneficence? What can be a greater 
affront to the supreme Majesty, than to fix the 
limits of his bounty by our own imperfect 
standard ? 

§ 3. The question is not, Why does not Gocl 
impart converting grace to all? For our oppo- 
nents do not think it right that he should impart 
it to any> until they shew of themselves first a 
willing mind. The proper question therefore is 
this : Why should we suppose that God does 
more, in the way of preventing internal grace, 
for some, than for others, while all, in 
themselves considered, are supposed to be 
equally undeserving? The true answer is, be- 
cause his favours are his own, and he has a sove- 
reign prerogative u to do what he will with his 
ow r n." For this reason the fallen angels have no 
right to reclaim against God, that he has pro- 
vided a Mediator, and a plan of mercy through 
him, for the recovery of myriads of the human, 



sect. in. False Views of the Divine Prerogative. 499 

race, while no such provision is made for the 
restoration of any one of their number. And 
for the same reason the major part of the human 
race, immersed in idolatry and superstition, will 
have no ground to object, in the day of final 
judgment, against their Maker and Judge, that 
they were not favoured with the message of re- 
conciliation, that they had not the same motives 
presented to them to induce them to repentance 
and conversion. 

1Mj^p?t sxA <(ub*I to t iDlD c C -jirfoJ' asfaaogi; oth 
§ 9. That God in the character of a Judge 
has " no respect of persons," but gives to every 
one his due, is fully acknowledged. In this 
view, he regards neither high nor low, rich nor 
poor, princes nor peasants, Jew nor Greek, 
Christian nor Mahometan, Barbarian nor Scy- 
thian, bond nor free ; but in every nation he that 
feareth God and worketh righteousness . is 
accepted of him. If we assert, however, that no 
one is enabled to believe, repent, and obey, mor% 
than another, we deny to God the prerogative 
of a Benefactor. If we accuse him of unworthy 
partiality, on supposition that he communicates 
to some more than to others a principle of 
grace, whereby they are spiritually enabled to 
obey the heavenly call, we arraign his wisdom 
and goodness at the bar of our own ignorance 
and folly. Every such objection proceeds on 
tfiis fundamental error, that all are alike worthy 



500 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 

of divine favours ; whereas the truth is, that all 
are alike unworthy. In the former case, a partial 
distribution would be unjust, but not so in the 
latter. If all nations were equally worthy, all 
other nations might justly remonstrate against 
the partiality of Jehovah towards Israel; and if 
all persons were equally worthy, all other persons 
might justly object that they are less favoured 
than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David, or 
Solomon, John the Baptist, the virgin Mary, or 
the apostles John, Peter, or Paul, &c. Equality 
of worthiness establishes a just claim ; but an 
equality of unworthiness leaves room for the 
full exercise of a sovereign Prerogative, ever 
administered in wisdom. 

§ 10. Some indeed have supposed, as we 
have seen from Chrysostom and Theodoret, 
whose opinions the Bishop of Lincoln seems to 
regard with complacency, that such partiality is 
subversive of rewards and punishments. But 
this proceeds on a false notion of the Rule of 
final Judgment, as if it were by the source 
of ability that the Judge will decide, rather 
than by the law of rectitude, which requires a 
good character and conduct. If these be 
approvable in the view of divine legislation, 
irrespectively of the source from whence they 
proceeded, it is all that an equitable Judge can 
demand. To suppose a demur to arise from the 



?ect. in. False Views of the Dkine Prerogative, 501 

consideration of a wicked character not having 
had preventing grace, as a reason of Ms not 
being punished; or of a righteous character 
having had preventing grace, by which he was 
enabled to become such, as a reason why he 
should not be rewarded ; would be indeed most 
thoroughly subversive of all judicial proceedings. 

§11. Will it be urged, that none of the human 
race have any need of inward preventing grace? 
Then, indeed, the bounty in question would be 
extremely superfluous. But I suspect some 
ambiguity in the terms, by which the objector 
is deceived. A thing may be needful for one 
end, which is not so for another; and to argue 
from the one to the other would be fallacious. 
It is granted that none of the human race have 
need of this bounty, in order to render them 
obliged and accountable i and this is equally 
true of the worst and the best of characters. If 
the latter of these be asked, whether they had 
any need of special grace in order to render 
them what they are, I believe the general 
answer would be in the affirmative. However 
great the difference, they will acknowledge 
distinguishing grace, by the exercise of a divine 
sovereign Prerogative, to be the efficient cause 
of it. Nor is it supposable that any characters 
finally condemned by the righteous Judge, will 
imagine that they had no " need " of what they 



502 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



formerly despised. What is not needful to clear 
the character of the Judge, or to vindicate his 
condemnation of the guilty, may be very needful 
to change their hearts, and to secure their happi- 
ness. But as all revealed blessings are proposed 
to men in a conditional form, and these condi- 
tions are perfectly equitable, they have no plea 
for transferrins: the blame from themselves. 
Though parents, or masters, or ministers, have 
neglected their duty towards them; though 
wicked men or wicked spirits tempted them to 
walk in evil ways; and though providential 
goodness furnished them with that plenty which 
proved the occasion of pride, luxury, haughti- 
ness, and other evil passions ; still they have no 
exculpating plea. The wicked man must die in 
his wickedness ; and those who have voluntarily 
neglected their duty towards him, or enticed him 
to evil, shall bear their own portion of guilt. 

§ 12. Nor can it with truth be asserted that 
this exercise of the divine Prerogative would 
be injurious to any. Not to the subject of 
grace ; for the very design of it is to make him 
better and happier. It implies no force upon 
his freedom ; he is equally free to good and 
evil as he was before. The difference is, that 
after he has received the light and life of grace, 
he freely chooses the opod which he before 
refused; and freely refuses the evil which he 



sect. in. False Inezes of the Divine Prerogative, 503 

before chose. Nor can it be injurious to any 
other. For what possible injury can it be to 
those among whom his lot is cast, or to the world 
at large, that a sinner is converted from the 
error of his ways ? On the contrary, it may be 
of great advantage to many. His upright con- 
versation, his holy affections, his heavenly dis- 
course, his faithful testimonies, and his salutary 
warnings, may do incalculable good, as in the 
case of St. Paul. He may, indeed, prove an 
innocent occasion of exciting a persecuting 
spirit and conduct, or the evil passions of envy, 
hatred, malice, and uncharitableness; and so was 
the spotless character of the Saviour himself ; 
but is this inflicting an injury upon those who 
are so wrought upon ? Oh no ! They receive no 
injury which does not proceed from themselves. 
There is not, in short, a single being in the uni 
verse who can be fairly said to be injured by 
the preventing grace of God, and the exercise 
of his Prerogative to confer discriminated 
favours. 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



Sect. IV. 

Wrong Notions respecting the ultimate Sources of 
Virtue and Vice. 

§ I. Why many have supposed that the Will is the ultimate source of 
virtue and vice. § 2. The absurdity of that sentiment exposed. 
^ 3. The apparent reason why several of the Christian Fathers 
adapted this notion. § 4. The immediate source of vice is not the 
will but the Heart. § 5. The real cause of an evil heart. § G. 
How this cause may be counteracted. §7,8. Wisdom and Folly 
illustrative of the nature and character of Virtue and Vice. § 9. 
Remarks on Virtue, as to what is essential, and what perfective. 
§ 10. Concluding observations respecting Vice, its nature and 
cause, 

§ 1. There is great reason to think that 
many sensible persons have been betrayed into 
the notion of a self-determining property in the 
human will, from the assumed principle, that 
the will itself is the ultimate source of virtue 
and vice : and this assumption they have, no 
doubt, been induced to make, from the acknow- 
ledged fact, that there is neither virtue nor 
vice in human actions without the determination 
of the will. But the will's determination being 
essential to the moral quality of a human action, 
does by no means prove that it is the ultimate 
source of that action. The exercise of the intel- 
lect is no less essential, than that of the will, 
but no one can thence infer that it is the ulti- 
mate source of virtue and vice. What is now 



sect. iv. Ultimate Sources of Virtue and Vice, 505 

contended for, is briefly this ; that the ultimate 
source of virtue, and of every good moral action, 
is God, from whom all good in the universe 
proceeds: or, if we seek for a source, con- 
sidered as existing in the human mind, it is a 
gracious principle, the effect of a sovereign 
energy. And it is further maintained, that 
the ultimate source of all vice, is A negative 
principle of defectibility, whereby actions 
physically good become morally evil. 

§ 2. The advocates for self-determination, 
by supposing the will to be the ultimate source 
of moral actions, are constrained to hold this 
absurdity, that things diametrically opposite in 
their nature, as virtue and vice, proceed from 
the same ultimate source, — which is the same 
as to maintain, that things directly opposite in 
their nature proceed from that which has the 
same uniform nature ! Not only the same con- 
duit, the will, may be the medium of conveying 
at different times both sweet water and bitter, 
which we admit, but also that they spring from 
the same fountain ! When the apostle James 
assures us that " every good gift and every 
perfect gift cometh from above, from the Father 
of lights," it is implied that things of a dif- 
ferent quality do not come from that source. A 
good will, if any thing in our world, is included 
in St, James's assertion; and a bad will is 



506 Modern Calvinism Defended. «h. vi. 



included in other things of a different quality. 
God therefore, and not the human will, is the 
ultimate source of virtue. When he enlightens 
the mind, and influences the heart, according to 
his sovereign Prerogative, in a greater or less 
degree, free virtuous actions will be the sure 
effects. The determination of the will, indeed, 
is a condition sine qua non of the virtuous qua- 
lity of its act ; but without grace in the heart, 
and without a communication of that grace 
from God, there could not be one virtuous act, 
in the proper sense of this epithet, among either 
men or angels. He who would deny this, would 
also deny that God is the fountain of all good, 
a truth which ought surely to be admitted, by 
all persons professing Christianity, as an un- 
doubted axiom. 

§ 3. And yet this proposition, so evident in 
sacred scripture, and so approvable by unbiassed 
reason, was very strangely called in question by 
some of the Fathers, when they asserted that 
good actions are only permitted, — and that the 
6 beginning* must be from ourselves, not only in 
point of obligation, but in point of fact. Surely 
such a representation, so far from being the 
language of heavenly wisdom, instructing man- 
kind, betrays a lamentable want of it. If they 
reflected at all, when penning such phrases, they 
must have proceeded on the supposition that 



sect. iv. Ultimate Sources of Virtue and Vice. 507 

otherwise our bad actions would be from God. 
The recoil from one extreme carried them to 
another. They dreaded the impiety of tracing 
our evil deeds to God's will ; and therefore they 
rashly encountered the opposite danger, as they 
saw no medium, by fixing upon the human will 
as the common source of our good and our evil. 
This indeed is a short method of simplifying 
the subject, to bring every act of virtue and 
vice to the same fountain ; — but it is to simplify 
at the expence of revealed religion, and of 
genuine philosophy. 

§ 4. Where, then, it may be rejoined, shall 
we find the ultimate source of vice, if not in the 
human will, as a self - determining faculty? I 
answer, in the Heart, according to the scrip- 
tural acceptation of the term. Our Saviour 
tells us, that " out of the heart proceed evil 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, 
false witness, blasphemies. These are the things 
which defile a man." * This " heart " must be 
something more intimate and radical than the 
will ; for it is the source of " evil thoughts," as 
well as of evil words and actions. To an evil 
heart is often ascribed in scripture, hardness, 
blindness, impurity, pride, foolishness, grossness, 
and insensibility. Over an evil heart there is a 



* Matt. xv. 19, 20. 



508 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



veil : and to a blind or hard heart St. Paul imputes 
ignorance and a darkened understanding."* 
Solomon addresses fools, as those who have not 
" an understanding heart." f He observes also, 
" that the heart of the sons of men is full of 
evil, and madness is in their heart while they 
live.";]: Such things, in short, through different 
parts of scripture are ascribed to the " heart," 
as prove decisively that it is a more internal 
source of moral actions than the will. The 
exercise of this faculty is both from the heart, 
and as the heart. If this be enlightened and 
wise, so is the choice ; but if dark and foolish, 
the choice is of the same character. 

§ 5. It was before granted that the free 
determination of the will is essential in order 
to stamp any act as vicious ; and it has been 
shewn that something more intimate than the 
will is intended by the heart. But the evil 
quality of the heart is neither from God nor 
from chance; and yet we cannot deny it to be 
without a cause, in some sense of this word, — 
unless at the same time we renounce the funda- 
mental axiom, that there is no effect without a 
cause. It was for w T ant of ascertaining the real 
cause of an evil heart, and consequently of vice, 
that the Fathers are so often found contradicting 



* Eph, iv. 18. f ProY. viii, 5, + Eccles. ix. 3. 



sect, iv, Ultimate Sources of Virtue and Vice. 509 

themselves and one another. These contradic- 
tions they would have avoided, had they per- 
ceived that the ultimate source of all vice is 
a negative cause, as contradistinguished from a 
positive. Had they properly considered the 
attributes of man, or of any one creature, they 
might have perceived, that he has not only 
faculties and qualities which are effects from 
the first cause, but also a principle of defecti- 
bihty. While man is in one respect the image or 
likeness of his Creator, in another point of view 
he is a contrast to him who " knows no vari- 
ableness, neither shadow of turning." God is 
independent, all-sufficient, and immutable ; but 
man is a contrast, and the attributes of essential 
dependence, insufficiency, and mutability, are 
inseparably attached to his being. A being not 
possessed of these essential attributes, is not a 
creature. 

§ 6. But though man cannot exist without 
these negative attributes, he is possessed of 
active faculties, which are capable of virtue and 
vice. He has an intellect adapted to perceive 
a law and its proper sanctions, a will to choose 
the good and refuse the evil, yet free to adopt 
cither side. While an efficient principle pre- 
vails, his choice is virtuous; but while God is 
neglected, and influence from him is despised or 
undervalued, the choice is vicious. The source 
of defectibility in man, can be over-ruled only 



510 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. yu 



by the source of indefectibility in God; and a 
portion of gracious energy from him, which he 
never denies to those who seek aright, is man's 
only security against vice. The most important 
part of self-knowledge of which man is capable, 
is to perceive practically and experimentally this 
essential difference between himself and his 
Maker. 

§ 7. The respective natures of virtue and 
vice are often expressed by Solomon under the 
terms wisdom and folly, — and with great strict- 
ness of propriety. Pure virtue, like pure wisdom, 
consists in the choice of a worthy end, and in 
the adoption of laudable means for attaining it. 
Partial virtue, like partial wisdom, is often found 
in wicked men. " The children of this world 
are wiser in their generation than the children 
of light." They have the wisdom of the serpent, 
are wise to do evil ; and were their end worthy, 
while their dexterity in the choice of means is 
admirable, they would shew . themselves truly- 
wise and virtuous. In real virtue something is 
essential, and something perfective. What is 
essential, is the choice of a chief end ; what is 
perfective, is the adoption of laudable means. 
Hence, a person may be essentially virtuous, 
without being so perfectively. And this is the 
character of " the children of light" in general. 
They choose God for their chief good; but 
often fail in the means of attaining perfect 



sect. iv. Ultimate Sources of Virtue and Vice. 512 

conformity to his will and holy nature. Anil they 
have always reason for deep humiliation, when 
repeated long experience proves to them their 
imperfection of skill in accomplishing their end. 
They delight in the law of God after the inner 
man, but how to perform that which is good* 
perfect! vely of their virtue and holiness, they 
find not. 

§ 8. On the other hand, many of a the 
children of this world," though vicious characters, 
may choose a variety of ends, more or less 
worthy in a partial sense, and discover an 
admirable degree of dexterity in the choice of 
means adapted to accomplish the end they have 
chosen. But if they choose not God as their 
chief end and final portion, their virtue is essen- 
tially defective; and so is their wisdom. They 
are wise for time, but fools for eternity. 
Neglecting God, they have neither eyes to see, 
nor ears to hear, nor hearts to perceive their 
best and highest interest With him is the 
fountain of life, and while they restrain prayer 
before him, they confirm their state, by volun- 
tary omissions, as dead in sin, and in the moral 
error of their ways. And they but too often 
despise those who act in a different manner; — 
61 but wisdom is justified of her children." 

§ 9. Before this discussion is closed, it may 
be remarked, that a failure even in the perfective 



512 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. vi.- 

part of virtue has in it the nature of sin* 
He who keepeth the whole law, and yet 
offendeth in one point, becomes a transgressor. 
He who knows and loves God is essentially 
virtuous, though partially defective; and he 
who knows and loves not God, is essentially 
vicious, whatever other excellencies he may 
possess. " Love is the fulfilling of the law," 
for it is the essential part of holiness and virtue ; 
but the want of it is a breach of the whole law, 
and stamps a character as essentially vicious, 
and his every moral act has the nature of vice, 
There are many worthy ends, taking this epithet 
to denote worthiness in a subordinate sense, and 
many laudable means, including laudableness to 
any indefinite degree, which ends and means, 
though harmoniously combined, do not raise 
the subjects of them above the charge of being 
essentially vicious. And this is owing to the want 
of a worthy ultimate and chief end to which all 
others ought to be subordinated. A person des- 
titute of the knowledge and love of God, who 
is the chief good, and therefore ought to be the 
chief end of the agent, cannot justly plead that 
he is essentially virtuous because he is, in an 
inferior sense, a good father, master, neighbour, 
or patriot; because he shuns many reigning 
vices, and promotes many virtuous designs. 
True virtue is not confined within any created 
circle, and aims at nothing short of infinite, even 
in the discharge of common duties. 



sect. iv. Ultimate Sources of Virtue and Vice. 513 

§ 10. From the preceding account of the 
ultimate sources and the respective natures of 
virtue and vice, we may perceive that vice is a 
species of defect in moral actions. A vicious 
act is a wrong act, and the wrong quality is a 
defective one — the want of what ought to be in 
the exercise of free volitions. But we cannot 
thence infer that the principle of the defect is 
itself vicious, since the exercise of a voluntary 
choice is an essential part of vice. Hence it 
follows demonstrably that the ultimate source 
of vice is not vicious. There is no vicious act 
which is not compounded of something positive, 
and therefore good, and of something negative 
or defective, and therefore evil in a comparative 
sense. The goodness of the act is its physical 
energy, which flows from God ; the badness of 
the act is its moral defect, or a failure in the 
manner of exercising the physical faculties, when 
they are voluntarily directed to a wrong end, or 
to means of attaining it which are not laudable* 
Were there no principle of defectibility in the 
agent, every act would be perfectty virtuous ; and 
were that principle itself of a vicious quality, in a 
moral sense, there would be no difference between 
cause and effect : vice would be the cause of vice, 
which is incompatible. 



2 L 



514 Modern Calvinism Defended, ch. vi# 



Sect. V. 

The want of requisite acquaintance zcilh reconciling 
Principles. 

i i. For want of reconciling principles, the Bishop rejects the 
doctrine of universal and total depravity. § 2. Confounds phy- 
sical powers and moral propensities. § 3. Nature and grace. 
§ 4. The passiveness of man, with his agency. ^ 5. Divine 
Equity, with Sovereignty. § 6. Exhibited grace, with subjective. 
§ 7. Faith as a principle, with faith as a, duty. § 8. He con- 
founds the different relations which are sustained by a justified 
person. ^ 9. The price of redemption, with redemption itself. 
$ 10. That Predestination which includes a series of events, 
with one that is isolated and imaginary. 

§ i. F rom the manner in which the Bishop 
has treated the different topics contained in his 
" Refutation," and from his numerous quotations 
from the Fathers, it is manifest, that many things 
are advanced through the apprehension of con- 
sequences that would follow from a different 
statement of those opinions ; which consequences 
however his Lordship might have seen would 
not follow, had he been more attentive to re- 
conciling principles; those I mean, which are 
necessary in order to reconcile scripture with 
scripture, and facts with facts. For instance, 
his Lordship seems to apprehend that if we go 
so far as to maintain a universal and total moral 
depravity of mankind by the fall of Adam, it 
would imply a natural impossibility of recovery, 



sect. v. The want of Reconciling Principles. 515 

or even of any improvement. He supposes it 
would exclude every voluntary effort, endeavour, 
or concurrence on the part of man — every idea 
of distinction between right and wrong — every 
good affection and moral sense. He also appre* 
hends that the admission of such a degree of 
moral depravity must render men incorrigible, 
absolutely incapable of amendment, or of dis- 
charging any part of duty — must reject all 
co-operation, and all improvement by discipline 
and exercise. If moral depravity be represented 
as universal and total, he prognosticates conse- 
quences if possible still more alarming; as if, 
none could act according to the determination 
of reason — all men, in every period, must be 
alike wicked — neither patriarchs nor prophets 
could address the people, nor the people be 
addressed by them — propensities, affections, and 
faculties, would be incapable of controul, cul- 
tivation and enlargement — there would exist no 
discrimination of moral character — and there 
could have been no righteous characters in the 
time of Christ — no good and honest hearts. 
These are his Lordship's alarming apprehensions, 

§ 2. Does it not strike every intelligent 
person who reflects upon the subject, that his 
Lordship has most unaccountably overlooked the 
distinction, which ought ever to be maintained, 
between physical powers, or faculties, and moral 



5l6 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



propensities? To infer the destruction of the 
former, from that of the latter, is as unreason- 
able as it would he to infer, that not a chord of 
a stringed instrument remained undestroyed, 
because the instrument is become universally and 
totally out of tune ; whereas an instrument may 
4>e thus of out tune, though every string remain 
entire ; wanting only the skilful treatment of an 
artist to render it capable of producing sounds of 
sweet and varied harmony, as at the first. Such 
is the energy of divine grace upon the mind. 
As no physical faculty was destroyed by sin, so 
no one is added by sovereign grace. The in- 
finitely wise author of our being, by his never- 
failing skill, makes the ignorant knowing, the 
foolish wise, the reluctant willing, the dead 
lively, the slothful vigilant. He who before 
murmured, gloomy and dissatisfied, now feels his 
heart glow with gratitude, and speaks the lan- 
guage of praise: he who before cursed, now 
blesses: he who before lifted up his voice in 
strife and contention, now pours forth prayers 
and supplications according to the will of God. 
He was deceitful, he is now upright; he was 
envious, he is now benevolent ; he was con- 
sumed with unhallowed attachments; he is now 
devoted to the love of God and his neighbour. 
" Instead of the thorn is come up the fir-tree, 
instead of the bramble is come up the myrtle- 
tree." 



sect. v. The want of Reconciling Principles. 017 

§ 3. Another distinction overlooked by his 
Lordship is, that existing moral differences 
among mankind are to be ascribed to grace rather 
than to nature. Some worthy characters, some 
well-disposed persons, some good and honest 
hearts, have been found in every age of the 
world. But how unreasonable to infer from 
these acknowledged facts, that the difference is 
derived from natural excellence rather than from 
supernatural grace. From the fact of one human, 
character in any period of time being far supe- 
rior to others, how illogical the conclusion that 
lie has made himself to differ, or that nature 
has left him less impaired. It is most unfairly to 
beg the question, that all good is not from God^ 
or, that there may be some moral excellence 
among men which flows not from divine grace. 
Admit this principle, that grace, not nature, 
forms the difference, and scripture will harmo- 
nize with scripture ; deny it, and contradictions 
appear in all its parts. Whether his Lordship 
has not com mi ted himself in this respect, every 
attentive reader may easily perceive. While 
truth is ever consistent with itself, when viewed 
through a just medium, it is the property of 
error to refute its own pretensions. One while 
it states that all mankind are ■ depraved,' with 
* a propensity to evil and wickedness, universal 
' in its extent and powerful in its effects;' ano- 
ther while, it extenuates the statement by 



518 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



pleading that some of these very persons were 
so ( righteous' as to he ' acceptable in the sight 
i of God/ without any acknowledgement of divine 
grace. What though ' the heart, the passions, 
? the will, and the understanding, and indeed all 
i the faculties and powers of Adam, were greatly 
6 corrupted, perverted, and impaired by his vio- 
6 lation of the divine command ; and what though 
6 every individual descended from him be born 
* into the world an imperfect and depraved crea- 
ture;' still the corruption was not so great but 
there have been some worthy characters in every 
period of time ! For we have upon record the 
excellencies of Abel, Enoch, and Noah; of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Job ; beside " seven thou- 
sand in Israel, who had not bowed their knees 
to Baal!" 

§ 4. His Lordship does not seem to have 
been aware of the passiveness of man as in* 
separably connected with his agency. If man 
were merely an agent, what conceivable ground 
of his happiness would there be in the nature 
of things? Absolutely exempted from the influ- 
ence of preventing grace, while, undeniably, 
free from controul in his choice, every man 
might fail alike of happiness. Admitting human 
depravity to be precisely what his Lordship 
admits ; I ask, what is there in the nature of 
things that can secure the salvation of any 



sect. v. The want of Reconciling Principles, 5 19 

individuals, except the prerogative and grace of 
God giving him a good will ? On the other 
hand, if man were merely passive, he could 
not be accountable for his actions: laws and 
sanctions would be useless things, and future 
judgment an unmeaning ceremony. Separate 
one of these attributes from the being of man, 
and nothing is rationally explained; the whole 
of the scriptural representation of him becomes 
an inexplicable paradox ; rather, a series of per- 
petual contradictions. Admit the fact, and the 
whole appears lucid and beautiful, coherent and 
harmonious. 

§ 5. Another principle of the utmost im- 
portance, closely connected with the preceding, 
and greatly overlooked by his Lordship and the 
Fathers, is the union of Equity and Sovereignty 
in the divine character. Not that either is 
denied in words, but their appropriate exercise 
is not brought into the account. In his Lord- 
ship's theory, Sovereignty has no effect in man, 
but only towards him in providing a Saviour, 
Every principle of discrimination originates with 
man, though in a fallen state ; and every act of 
after bounty is only an exercise of Equity in 
rewarding the creature's goodness. In a word, 
the whole is reduced to this one view of God, 
a merciful Governor. All that sovereign mercv 
does, is to provide moral means, not allowed tm 



520 Modern Ca lvinism Defended. ch. yi. 



fallen angels, and then justice engages to reward 
the worthy. But this is to limit " The Holy one 
of Israel" in that very point wherein man most 
needs his assistance, and in the exercise of 
mercy wherein God delights. It is an attempt 
to confine the hand of omnipotence with the 
filmy cord of contingency ; to restrain the divine 
prerogative within the narrow confines of human 
self-sufficiency. Nay, more, it is to found the 
exercise of gracious power on human moral 
ability ; and the exercise of mercy on human 
moral worthiness. In such a system every thing 
must appear confused and contradictory; the 
perfections of God, and the attributes of man, are 
continually at variance. But if you admit that 
God governs his creatures, as free agents, with 
equity, and bestows favours upon them, as 
passive, with unrestrained sovereignty, to " the 
praise of the glory of his grace ;" the perplexity 
is unravelled, the scriptures appear no longer a 
labyrinth, and seeming discordances are satis- 
factorily reconciled. 

§ 6. Many contradictions might have been 
avoided by his Lordship, had he attended to the 
difference between exhibitory and subjective grace. 
Any reflecting reader of the f< Refutation" may 
perceive how the Bishop and the Fathers per- 
petually confound these essentially different 
considerations. The provision of mercy in a plan 



sect. v. Hie zoanl of Reconciling Principles. 5*21 

of mediation ; God's gift of his beloved Son as 
our Saviour; his affording, to the fallen race of 
man, a divine revelation; the proclamation of 
peace by the ministry of reconciliation; the 
display of gracious designs in gospel institu- 
tions; with the promise of his Holy Spirit to 
the believing, pardon to the penitent, and eternal 
salvation to obedient Christians, — are all ex- 
pressive of exhibit ory grace. These representations 
are only suitable means of a gracious moral 
government ; they put no law in the mind, they 
open no blind eyes, unstop no deaf ears, unlock 
the door of no heart, without subjective grace. 
To the former belongs a universality of aspect and 
intention; it is the glad tidings of great joy sent 
to all nations, as in the course of providence 
a door of access is opened : it is grace in its ex- 
ternal dispensation, proposed to free agents, who 
are the subjects of a gracious moral government. 
To the latter belongs the actual existence of 
divine influence in the souls of individuals, 
whereby they are enriched with life and light, 
and whereby exhibited blessings become effec- 
tual to salvation. To the one, the agency of 
man stands essentially related ; to the other, 
his passiveness as a subject of antecedent bene- 
fits. Without exhibitory grace, how could any 
be judged according to the gospel? Without 
subjective grace preventing us that we may 
have a good will, what soul could be saved? 



522 



Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. vi. 



§ 7. Many discordant passages in his Lord- 
ship's discourse about faith, are owing to an over- 
sight of the momentous difference subsisting 
between this grace considered as a principle and 
as a duty. In the former sense, it is the gift of 
God; in the latter, it is the act of man. The 
promises made to faith, regard it as the act and 
duty of man ; who, on believing, receives justifica- 
tion, and grace for grace. By faith, in this sense, 
the believer looks unto Jesus, trusts in him for 
righteousness and strength, relies upon the 
promises, overcomes the world, and walks in the 
path of duty. By faith, in the other sense, he 
is made morally able to belive with the heart, 
and to perform, in the way of duty, other fiducial 
acts required. The one is, in a sense, of our- 
selves, because it is our own act; the other is 
exclusively from God, who quickeneth whom 
he will, and who bestows his blessings, as a 
sovereign Benefactor, according to the profun- 
dity of his wisdom. Faith, as a duty, is itself a 
good work, and draws other good works in its 
train, as exemplified in the eleventh chapter of 
the epistle to the Hebrews; but faith, as a prin- 
ciple, is no good work of ours, but " of the 
operation of God," enabling the soul " to do 
those things which are pleasing in his sight." 
Faith, as a divine principle, or when taken 
figuratively for its object, or for its foun- 
dation, stands opposed to works, in several 



sect. v. The want of Reconciling Principles, 523 

passages of the apostolic writings ; but faith, as 
a duty, is included in works. 

§ 8. Some incongruities are obvious in the 
chapter which treats of justification for want of 
distinguishing the different relations which a 
justified person bears. In scriptural acceptation, 
a person is considered as justified in Christ, by 
grace, by faith, and by works. Justification in 
Christ, expresses the relation of union to him, 
effected by an act of divine sovereign prero- 
gative. Justification by . grace, expresses the 
relation of our personal unworthiness, who, had 
it not been for grace providing a substitute, must 
have continued guilty, and under condemnation. 
Justification by faith, expresses the relation of 
an arraigned criminal who is set at the bar of 
divine justice to plead his defence in opposition 
to the charge of being destitute of a perfect 
righteousness. A perfection of righteousness is 
required by divine law and justice; and in this 
respect it is hopeless to appeal to "works of 
righteousness which we have done." Divine 
revelation affords a testimony respecting Christ, 
that he is " the end of the law for righteousness 
to every one that believe th this testimony, 
and his belief in it, the arraigned criminal pleads 
in his defence, and is regarded as justified. 
Justification, by works, expresses the relation of 
a moral subject perpetually amenable to the law 



o24 Modern Calvinism Defended. ch. yi. 

of right and wrong, commonly termed the 
the moral law. In meeting this charge, it is 
not enough to plead that Christ is the end of 
the law, that grace has prepared a remedy, and 
that the divine testimony is believed ; for these 
pleas have been and still are admitted. It may 
be urged, you are still amenable to a rule of 
moral obedience, which, if you despise, it is a 
proof that your plea of an interest in the former 
privileges is a shallow pretence : since no one 
who has a genuine regard for, and faith in Christ, 
rejects his yoke. Bring the genuineness of your 
faith and the sincerity of your profession to this 
test. " Shew me thy faith by thy works." As* 
the charge is want of works, it is evident that no 
plea can be urged for justification from the 
charge, but the actual works required. And as 
these are justifying evidences in this life, so 
they will be at the last judgment, when the 
enquiry will be instituted, not only what have 
you believed, but also what have you done ? 

§ 9. In examining the " Refutation" we 
have met with some incongruous passages 
respecting redemption, which might have been 
avoided by means of the important distinc- 
tion between the price, or valuable consider- 
ation, arid the actual deliverance. The former 
is indefinite, as appears from the nature of the 
demand ; the obedience and sacrifice mutft be of 



sect. v. The want of Reconciling Principles, 525 

infinite worth, or else of no worth at all, to 
answer the demands of law and justice. What 
is of infinite value cannot be in itself restricted ; 
and therefore its aspect, when revealed and 
proposed to men, must necessarily be indefinite. 
But actual deliverance is a personal concern. 
Christ having assumed our nature, lived a 
perfect character, and died a meritorious death, 
abstractedly considered, actually delivers no 
person. This latter benefit is a definite effect 
for the sake of an infinite, and therefore in- 
definite price. The means, or the price, of 
redeeming us from the curse of the law, was the 
Saviour's being made a curse for us ; but the 
redemption itself is our personal deliverance 
from guilt and condemnation, from, sin and the 
power of satan, and from the grave. 

§ 10. In treating of Predestination to life, 
his Lordship, as we have seen at large, has 
offered great violence to the Articles of his own 
Church, and has made them speak a language 
replete with contradiction. This he might have 
escaped, if he had regarded Predestination as 
a divine purpose respecting a series of beneficent 
events, instead of regarding it, as he has done, 
in an isolated point of view. That predestina- 
tion, and that only, is consistent with itself, 
which never separates the means from the 
end, but includes the former as indispensably 



\ 



528 Modern Calvinism Depended. ch. vu 



requisite to attain the latter. Under his Lord- 
ship's hand, while this connection is overlooked, 
the wholesome doctrine which "is full of sweet, 
pleasant and unspeakable comforts to godly 
persons," is rendered to the last degree noxious 
and unlovely. In brief, he who professes that 
all our good and all our happ'mess must be ulti- 
mately referred to the divine beneficence and 
purpose, cannot renounce the predestination we 
hold, but at the expense of consistency with his 
own profession. 



Chap. ViL 



CONCLUDING REMARKS ON THE EXCELLENCY OF 
RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, AND ON THE BEST WAY 
OF OBTAINING IT. 

\ L The particular design of this chapter. § 2. The Excellency of 
Religious Knowledge. § 3. Advancement in this knowledge 
strongly enjoined in the holy scriptures. § 4. Proficiency in it 
"beneficial to ourselves and others, even in private life. § 5. Espe- 
cially to public instructors; and § 6. To disputants. § 7. The 
impovtance of it further appears from its influence on practice. 

§ 8. We should seek it, first*, by the performance of known duty.. 
§ 9. The folly of neglecting this rule. § 10. This method recom- 
mended by the holy scriptures; and ^ 11. Justified on rational 
principles. ^ 12, 13. We should seek it, secondly, by the exercise 
of Christian Candour. § 14. Thirdly, by forbearing to systematize 
w "ithout extensive information; and especially § 15. Fourthly, by 
cultivating a devotional temper. 

§ 1. Having completed the proposed 
Examination of the Bishop of Lincoln's " Refu- 
tation of Calvinism," — and ventured to suggest 
some explanation of the numerous mistakes and 
inconsistencies which occur in that perform- 
ance, — I now request the readers attention to 
a few Concluding Remarks of a more prac- 
tical nature. My design is to point out the 
excellency of religious knowledge, and the best 
Way of obtaining it. In connexion with which, 
I would fain bear the best testimony in my 
power against the principle and the operations 



528 Modern Calvinism Defended. 



of bigotry in polemical discussions ; and encou- 
rage a liberal and enlarged way of thinking* 
This is far more worthy of the gospel of Christ, 
and of the talents with which we are entrusted, 
than contending for the interest of any external 
denomination, 

§ 2. Of all objects contemplated by mortals, 
none is of equal excellency and importance with 
religion : it embraces the sublimest topics that 
the universe affords, relates to the purest enjoy- 
ments, involves our highest interest, and stands 
immediately connected with endless conse- 
quences. Without religious knowledge no man, 
however distinguished in other respects, can be 
truly happy, or truly wise. " This is life eternal, 
that they might know thee the only true God, 
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." * Life 
is the well-being of any person or thing; and 
here it denotes that which is peculiar to the 
immortal soul. The right knowledge of God 
and of his Christ, therefore, stands immediately 
related to our eternal well-being. 

§ 3. This knowledge being excellent in its 
nature, and glorious in its effects, it is no wonder 
that the sacred oracles so warmly recommend a 
progressive improvement in it. " My son, if thou 



* John xvii, 3, 



ch. tii. Condudbig Remarks. 529 

wilt receive my words, and hide my command- 
ments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear 
unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to under- 
standing; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, 
and liftcst up thy voice for understanding; if 
thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her, 
as for hid treasures ; then shalt thou understand 
the fear of the Lord ; and find the knowledge of 
God. For the Lord giveth wisdom ; out of his 
mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." * 
A similar promise we have in the prophets, in a 
more concise form : " Then shall we know if we 
follow on to know the Lord" f An attainment 
of inconsiderable value w ould not be represented 
in this manner by an inspired scribe. The 
devout Psalmist observes, " What man is he that 
feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way 
that he shall choose. — The secret of the Lord is 
with them that fear him ; and he will shew them 
his covenant" or, his covenant to make them 
know it.J The same sentiment is inculcated in 
the New Testament as a matter of apostolic 
exhortation. " Brethren, be not children in 
understanding; howbeit, in malice be ye chil- 
dren, but in understanding he men." || There- 
fore leaving the principles (the mere rudiments) 
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto 



m Proy. ij. 1—6. 
J Psa. xxv. 12. 14. 



+ Kos. xi. 3. 
[} 1 Cor. xiv. 20, 

2 M 



530 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



perfection."* " Wherefore laying aside all malice, 
and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and 
all evil speakings, as new born babes desire the 
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow 
thereby." f " Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye 
know these things before, beware lest ye also 
being led away by the error of the wicked, fall 
from your own stedfastness; but grozo in grace, 
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ:' X 

§ 4. Proficiency in religious knowledge, as 
appears from the divine records, must be highly 
beneficial. When Solomon asserts, " that the 
soul be without knowledge, it is not good,"|| he 
evidently includes the counterpart, that the 
acquisition of knowledge is good. " Then I 
saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light 
excelleth darkness." § Religious knowledge is 
welcome to the mental eye, and divine truth, as 
a light shining in a dreary solitude, illuminates 
the path of duty, and invigorates the moral 
traveller in the wa}^s of wisdom. Before its 
benign power the clouds of ignorance dissolve 
and vanish : and, while it enlarges the under- 
standing, it refines the passions, and purifies the 
heart. If, however, it is thus peculiarly advan- 

* Heb. Ti. 1. +1 Pet. ii. 1, 2. +2 Pet. fii. 17, 18. 

K Proy. xix. 2. § Eccles. ii. 13. 



en. vii. Concluding Remarks* 531 

tageous to ourselves, it must be highly salutary 
to others who are within the circle of our in- 
fluence. Even in a private sphere, we have 
opportunities of instructing the young and un- 
informed. If proficients ourselves, we shall 
impart knowledge with less embarrassment, solve 
the difficulties of the inquisitive with more ease, 
and lead them forward with greater delight. 
Perceiving the harmony of divine truths, with 
their mutual dependence and connexion, our 
attachment to them will be more firm, and we 
shall be enabled to recommend them with be- 
coming zeal and modest confidence. 

§ 5. While such advantages attend progres- 
sive religious knowledge in private life, how 
much more advantageous will it be to public 
instructors. They have a more difficult office 
to fulfil, and a greater variety of characters to 
address. The speculative sceptic should have 
no cause to triumph over the ministers of divine 
truth, as if they could not meet him on his own 
ground, and foil him with his own weapons. 
While he despises and ridicules the doctrines of 
our religion, let the edge of his boasted reason 
be turned upon himself. Falsehood cannot 
endure the test of close examination. If we 
are but sufficiently acquainted with comprehen- 
sive principles, every error may be proved^ 
at least virtually, to be subversive of itself] and 



532 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



every vice may be shewn to be folly. When* 
too, the messengers of the King* of heaven have 
enlarged and correct views of revealed truth, in 
all its parts and bearings, they are better able 
to give every one his portion of instruction or 
advice, of reproof or comfort, in due season ; 
better able to judge on what articles of their 
message to lay the strongest emphasis, what 
parts ought to be brought most frequently to 
view, what deviations from truth or duty are 
most dangerous, and by what means different 
errors may be most effectually checked or 
subverted. 

§ 6*. Polemical discussions, when conducted 
as they ought to be, are a species of public 
instruction, being an appeal to the general 
notice, on the comparative claims of different 
sentiments. Most disputed points have difficul- 
ties which require more than a slight knowledge 
of the subject: and when any one presumes to 
correct whole systems of doctrine without suit- 
able information, truth is liable to suffer, and 
error to be propagated. Yet something more 
than mere knowledge is necessary for disputants. 
Controversy conducted without candour, stirs 
up the worst of passions, indulges in unhallowed 
recriminations, insinuates suspicions of unworthy 
designs, rouses the spirit of bigotry from his 
-slumbers, and, while it animates the excesses of 



en, vii. Concluding Remarks. 533 

party zeal, weakens the bonds of Christian 
amity. Divide and conquer is the maxim of an 
enemy. 

4 

§ 7. The great importance of progressive 
religious knowledge may be estimated from the 
salutary influence it possesses on Christian duties, 
It is a valuable guide to profitable devotion and 
useful practice. Yet we should be on our guard 
in estimating practice, as well as in deciding 
upon doctrine. The Jewish Pharisees, who re- 
jected the Prince of Life, were very expert 
practitioners in their way. But their obedience 
was not fashioned according to the divine rule ; 
was not directed to a worthy end, did not How 
from a right principle. Approved practice in* 
eludes devotion, the proper exercise of the heart 
. and affections, as well as the external part of 
service. As a pretended devotion which is not 
accompanied with the discharge of personal and 
relative duties, is essentially defective; so our 
duties without a devotionah temper, are but a 
body without the soul. 

§ 8. Having pointed out briefly the excel- 
lency of religious knowledge, and some advan- 
tages which it is capable of affording, I shall 
now presume to offer a few words of advice, 
especially to my younger brethren in the ministry 
(as the result of long experience,) respecting 



534 Modern Calvinism Defended. 

its attainment. And, first, seek it in the per- 
formance of known duty. In this enterprise, 
our divine Teacher leads the way. "If any man 
mill do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, 
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of 
myself."* This is the path, " walk ye in it." 
Conscientiously improve your talent, and you 
shall add to it. " To him that hath shall be 
given." To attempt the depths of knowledge 
or the heights of speculation by any other pro- 
cess, is to encounter a dangerous voyage with 
crowded sails, while the ballast has been left 
behind. " Whom shall he teach knowledge ? 
and whom shall he make to understand doctrine ? 
them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn 
from the breasts." f This reply to the important 
inquiry implies, that selfish indulgences and im- 
moderate worldly attachments, are incompatible 
with profitable knowledge. Until the heart and 
affections are withdrawn and weaned from gro- 
velling pursuits, such as those mentioned in the 
context, the learner is not qualified to receive 
even the rudiments of saving knowledge, much 
less to make a desirable proficiency.^ 

* 1 John vii. 17. f Isa. xxviii. 9. 

% Propheta docet, Doctores, Sacerdotes, Proceres populi, 
quorum erat tueri integritatem doctrinae et conciliorum 
publicorum, adeo longe discessisse a rramite veri, ut plane 
inepti sjnt ad veram doctriuam salutis ; fundatam in antiqua 



ch. vii. Concluding Remarks. 535 

§ 9. Some indeed have taught otherwise ; 
urging, not only that indifference to all tenets 
leaves reason free, but also that religious prac- 
tice is of little use in order to discern truth, and 
to guard against error. But it should be remem- 
bered that habitual practice forms the character ; 
and therefore a defective practice forms a defec- 
tive character. He who expects to succeed by 
defect, " sows the wind and shall reap the 
whirlwind." When did the ancient Jews 
become corrupt in doctrine, but when they 
degenerated in their practice? When did the 
church of Rome deviate from sound, scriptural 
principles, substituting the acts of councils and 
the mandates of presumptuous men, for the 
oracles of God, but when the clergy and laity 
became voluptuous, " greedy of filthy lucre," 
— receiving honour one from another on unau- 
thorized grounds of distinction, — and immoral 
in their conduct? When men mis-improve or 
neglect the means of knowledge which God has 

doctrina Patriarchal! et Mosaica, rede percipiendain et 
digerendam : Esse enim doctrinam Scholasticam ejus (em- 
poris, ad quod ipse respicit, doctrinam accommodatam ad 
ingenia puerilia^ qualis fuit Pharisaica ; nou masculam^ 
solidani) bene coJuerentem y qualem oportet esse doctrinam 
verae religionis, quae homini adulto et exercito satisfactura 
sit : Sed constare prceceptzs traditionum antiquarurn nomine 
commendatisj independentibus et inter se neutiquam co- 
haerentibus. Vitring. in foe. 



536 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



afforded them, he gives them up to vile affec- 
tions and judicial blindness, so that they take 
light for darkness, and darkness for light. Their 
habits and characters being once formed under 
the guidance of lust and passion, every thing is 
viewed through a false medium, and the simpli- 
city of pure truth has no attractive charms. 
Whatever, under the abused name of religion, 
administers to pride, ambition, and sensual 
pleasures, best accords with their acquired habits 
and depraved principles. 

§10. As this representation is verified by 
every page of ecclesiastical history, in every 
period of the church from the apostolic age to 
the present time, so it answers to the testimony 
of scripture, and may without difficulty be 
accounted for. The love of. honour and of 
pleasure, the love of power and of riches, weaken 
or exclude the love of God and benevolence to 
men. " If any man love the world, the love of 
the Father is not in him." " How can ye 
believe, who receive honour one of another, 
and seek not the honour that cometh from God 
only ? " " And this is the condemnation, that light 
is come into the world, and men loved^darkness 
rather than light, because their deeds are evil. 
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, 
neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should 
be reproved." " And because iniquity shall 



ch. vii. Concluding Remarks. 537 

abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Reli- 
gious knowledge and practice have a reciprocal 
influence. Practical diligence, in God's appointed 
way, leads to spiritual wealth. " The hand of 
the diligent maketh rich." And this wealth 
when acquired, incites to further exertion, and 
to a more extended sphere of usefulness. " He 
also that is slothful in his work, is brother to 
him that is a great waster." He that would find 
the precious ore of knowledge must " search 1 ' 
and "dig" for it; not by perplexing specu- 
lations, so much as by " doing justly, loving- 
mercy, and walking humbly with God :" not so 
much by the exertion of genius, as by scrip- 
tural self-denial; by being ready to distribute, 
and willing to communicate; by visiting the 
widow and the fatherless in their affliction ; by 
persevering without weariness in well-doing ; by 
always abounding in the work of the Lord; and 
by constantly cultivating a purity and simplicity 
of intention in all his actions. " If thine eye be 
single, thy whole body shall be full of light." 
When men aim not at glorifying God, and 
neglect the divine Teacher, they prepare them- 
selves for strong delusions, for embracing error 
instead of celestial truth. 

§ 11. They who do evil, and live in a carnal, 
worldly element, cannot bear the light of holy 
truth, and the doctrines which are according to 



538 



Modern Calvinism Defended. 



godliness; and consequently their search will 
be, if they search at all, after those principles 
which are most indulgent to the ways they like, 
Thus infidel principles are embraced by many, 
in order to obtain a quieter retreat from the 
reproaches of truth, the light of which they 
cannot or will not endure, because they are 
determined to make no costly sacrifices, to re- 
nounce no carnal indulgences : they resolve in 
short, to retain the cargo, falsely valued by deceit- 
ful fancy, at the hazard of shipwreck : for them 
to receive gospel truth, would be to entertain 
that by which they are reproved and condemned. 
The characters just noticed exhibit, it is true, an 
extreme case : but the same considerations are 
applicable to many others who do not depart 
from truth to the same excess. Though deny- 
ing the power of godliness, many retain the 
form of it from political or self-interested 
motives. They will be friendly to religion as 
long as religion subserves their particular pur- 
poses; but were it not regarded as an useful 
auxiliary, its intrinsic worth they would despise. 
In short, he who has most personal and prac- 
tical religion, in the scriptural acceptation of 
the term, is the most likely, other things 
being equal, to arrive at the knowledge of the 
whole truth, as it is in Jesus, because he 
has the fewest prejudices and hindrances to 
overcome. 



ch. vii. Concluding Remarks. 539 

§ 12. In the second place, cultivate Christian 
candour. An enquirer after truth, (and the same 
is applicable to a controvertist,) if he would 
prove successful, should be candid, open and 
ingenuous. No concealments of the force of 
an objection, no evasion, no caricatures. Every 
thing of this sort is mean and despicable. Re- 
collect that the contest should be for truth, and 
not for superiority of skill. If consequences 
are deduced, let them be deduced honestlv : if 
accusations are preferred, let them be substan- 
tiated. It discovers a total absence of generosity 
to make a man an offender for a word, when 
that word is no fair exponent of his real senti- 
ments, — designedly to interpret an expression 
in a sense disapproved by him who employs it. 
Christian candour implies tenderness and sin- 
cere good will even towards those who treat 
our sentiments with contumely and defiance, 
Though firm in advancing an argument when 
that argument appears to be conclusive, it is 
very far from dogmatizing without proof. Its 
prevailing desire is, that unadulterated truth 
may prevail, that God may be glorified among 
men, and that their immortal welfare may be 
promoted. It inculcates a humble and cheerful 
readiness to receive more light, and mingles 
prayers and devout aspirations for the spread of 
pure and undeflled religion. 



540 Modern Calvinism Defended. 

§ 13. Christian candour, moreover, is utterly 
averse from crafty and politic manoeuvres; it 
disdains to excite unfounded prejudices, nor 
will it implant a sting in the innocent by decid- 
ing on characters and sects in the mass. If 
conscious of superior evidence, it vaunteth not 
itself, nor behave th itself unseemly. Though 
it censures real faults, it acknowledges all excel- 
lencies, and wherever found, with gladness. It 
pours a tear over erring humanity, and while *t 
admires the patience of heaven in bearing with 
its perversities, earnestly endeavours to imitate 
an example so exalted. Depraved and erroneous 
as men are, it is willing, like charity, to hope the 
best of all parties. It rejoiceth not in iniquity, 
but rejoiceth in the truth. Such is Christian 
candour. May the writer and the reader of 
these remarks, anxiously covet a larger portion 
of it! 

§ 14. In the third place, forbear to sys- 
tematize without extensive information. Many 
detached parts of scripture are plain. The 
well-disposed, without much controversial know* 
ledge or skill in discriminating abstracted 
truths, may become wise unto piety and sal- 
vation. But there is no small danger in at- 
tempting to systematize on contracted or on false 
principles. To justify an endeavour to generalize 



en. vn. Concluding Remarks* 541 

detached sentiments, the subject should be 
viewed on all sides, in all its relations and con- 
nection-, its antecedents and consequences, its 
causes and effects. As one part of a religious 
system should not oppose another, so no part 
should oppose the sacred oracles. A theological 
theory which depends in a great measure on 
mere verbal criticisms for support, deservedly 
excites our suspicion. It is better to abide by 
the facts, the histories, the doctrines, and duties 
of religion, as plainly revealed, without attempt- 
ing a reconciliation of difficulties, or stating a sys- 
tematic view of the whole, than to adopt for this 
purpose vague hypotheses incapable of proof, or 
uncertain conjectures, the pabulum of scepticism* 
Men may be good and useful Christians though 
not versed in systems of divinity, and though 
destitute of a deep and critical knowledge of 
many particulars • but in order to correct the 
systems of others, these ought to be thoroughly 
known on the points of difference ; — and when 
an unfair statement of them is made, it follows as 
a plain inference, that this must be owing either 
to the want of information, or of candour. 
Before we blame, let us be well informed. 

§ 15. In the fourth place, enquire after 
truth and growing knowledge with a devotional 
temper. An undevout enquirer is almost sure 



542 Modern Calvinism Defended. 

of being disappointed, because he neglects the 
source of wisdom. True devotion calms the 
passions, and improves our love of truth. Con- 
necting every object and event with God, as 
either appointing or permitting it, it is more 
likely to lead the mind to view every part of 
truth or of error in its proper cause. The devout 
mind has unfeigned pleasure in the divine will, 
and prevailing desires to know it more fully ; 
and therefore (cceteris paribus ) there is greater 
probability of success. And it is worthy of 
observation, that the most useful men in the 
church of Christ have been eminent for piety 
and a devotional spirit. But real devotion is 
not confined to set times and forms ; the subject 
of it prays without ceasing, and evermore gives 
thanks to the Father of mercies. In every 
place and at all seasons, he lifts up his heart to 
heaven, without wrath or doubting. The word 
of God is the treasury from whence he draws 
instruction ; but he looks up for the Spirit of 
Wisdom, that he may have an accurate concep- 
tion of every part, not neglecting the subordinate 
helps which are placed within his reach. This 
method, pursued with diligence, will " give 
subtilty to the simple, to the young man know- 
ledge and discretion and will prepare him 
" to understand a proverb, and the interpreta- 
tion; the words of the wise, and their dark 



ch. vii. Concluding Remarks. 543 

sayings." " Happy is the man that findeth 
wisdom, and the man that getteth understand- 
ing. For the merchandise of it is better than 
the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof 
than line gold. She is more precious than 
rubies ; and all the things thou canst desire, are 
not to be compared unto her. Length of days 
are in her right hand; and in her left hand riches 
and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasant- 
ness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree 
of life to them that lay hold upon her; and 
happy is every one that retaineth her." " Buy 
the truth, and sell it not." " Delight thyself 
also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the 
desires of thine heart." 

§ 16. In having thus ventured to submit the 
foregoing observations to his younger brethren, 
(a considerable number of whom, he has had 
the honour and the pleasure of instructing for 
the Christian ministry, in the course. of thirty 
years,) the writer hopes it is needless for him 
to disclaim the imputation of considering him- 
self as " having attained," or " being already 
perfect." Conscious of many deficiencies, and 
sensible that he has much to learn, he unaffect- 
edly admits, that if in any part of this work he 
has failed in exemplifying the particulars recom- 
mended, he ought to be included in the number 



544 Modern Calvinism Defended. 

of those to whom the exhortations and directions 
are peculiarly applicable. Thus much, however, 
he must be permitted to declare, that as in the 
controversial part he has opposed no doctrine, 
advanced no sentiment, and adduced no argu- 
ment, which he had not deliberately weighed ; 
so he has not ventured to suggest any advice 
which he is not conscientiously disposed to 
follow, or to recommend any temper of mind 
which he does not sincerely desire to cultivate. 



FINIS, 



llv.ghe.Sy Printer, Maiden- Lane, Cevent-Garden, London. 



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